Mohammad Kaif Named Indian Batsman Who Reminds Him Of ‘The Wall’ Rahul Dravid: Former Indian cricketer, Rahul Dravid, who is regarded as ‘the wall’ of the Indian cricket team is one of the most selfless cricketers to have played for team India. He has always stood tall for the Men in Blue irrespective of the format but also in different positions and roles.
There was a time when Sourav Ganguly-led team India was struggling for a wicketkeeper-batsman, and Rahul Dravid came out to rescue the team and took charge as a wicketkeeper. Dravid did his job brilliantly with the gloves, even during India’s memorable 2003 World Cup campaign in South Africa. Thanks to Rahul Dravid’s versatility, India was able to play an extra batsman or bowler, as per the conditions.
Talking about the current scenario, the Men in Blue were struggling for the wicketkeeper-batsman after legendary Indian cricketer MS Dhoni’s sabbatical. During this period, India tried many options and eventually, KL Rahul came into the scene and did the job reasonably well with the gloves and well as even batted at different positions, irrespective of the format.
Thus, former Indian cricketer, Mohammad Kaif feels that KL Rahul reminds him of Rahul Dravid. Recently, during the post-match show on the Sony Sports Network after India’s first T20I win versus Australia, Mohammad Kaif hailed KL Rahul and said some amazing words about him. He said:
“KL Rahul reminds me of Rahul Dravid. KL Rahul is ready to do anything, it shows that he is a team-player. If you play me at No.5, then I will do that role for the team,”
He added:
“I will keep if you ask me to do that. Here you want me to open, I will do that as well. As a captain or team management, you are on the lookout for players like KL Rahul who is ready to lay down his life for the team. There are very few players who come like him.”
During India’s 1st T20I victory recently, KL Rahul played a vital role on Friday. Team India managed 160-7 riding on Rahul’s sublime 51 and Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 44. Talking about Rahul’s performance, Kaif said:
“He played fast at the start but had to slow down when the wickets were falling. And he did not get the strike as well. Then once you get the strike, you are confused if you should play the big shot or take singles because you are losing out on overs.”
He added:
“I feel it was a perfect innings. He started very well and later we do expect that he scores 80-90 runs but he got out. But overall, it was a very good innings because a batsman wants to bat based on the situation. And it is not that he cannot play the big shots. Whenever he wants, he can play the big shots and can also score 20 runs in an over, but he did not change the gear intentionally because he felt that the wickets were falling and he wanted to play till the end.”
