“What criticism?” Just a day ago, KL Rahul shot back at a journalist who asked him about the ongoing debate over his T20 strike rate. Rahul had shrugged off questions surrounding the pace at which he bats in the shortest format of the game. During a press conference ahead of India’s three-match T20I series opener against Australia, KL Rahul said:
“Strike-rates are taken on an overall basis. You never see when that batsman has played at a certain strike-rate, whether it was important for him to play at 200 strike-rate, whether the team could still have won (by) striking at 100 and 120,”
He added: “Strike-rate is something I am working at. I am working towards it, on how I can improve myself as an opening batter and see how I can have the most impact for my team when I go out to bat,”
Now just a day after this press conference, KL Rahul silenced his critics with his bat as he played a stunning knock and registered a half-century in the ongoing series opener against Australia. KL Rahul had walked out to open the innings with the Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who was dismissed early in the innings. After Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, who registered a stunning century in his last game, also couldn’t score a big number tonight and was dismissed after scoring just 2 runs. Rahul scored 55 runs off 35 balls, smashing 4 fours and 3 sixes with a strike rate of 157.14.
KLR has been receiving praises for his amazing performance. Among many, cricket analyst and popular commentator, Harsha Bhogle also took to his social media and shared a Tweet slamming the critics. In his Tweet, he highlighted how when KL Rahul frees his mind, his strike rate improves. He said:
“So, you see, KL Rahul doesn’t have to worry about, or think of, strike rates. He frees his mind and the strike rate is the natural outcome.”
Here, check out the Tweet:
So, you see, KL Rahul doesn’t have to worry about, or think of, strike rates. He frees his mind and the strike rate is the natural outcome.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 20, 2022