Asia Cup 2023: KL Rahul’s Middle-Order Batting Impresses R Ashwin, Namedrops ‘MS Dhoni’ To Drill Home Point

The Asia Cup 2023 has given the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team several positives. While the form of the Indian top order has mostly been good, Indian bowling has been boosted with the great forms of Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav. The collective efforts from the players saw the team reach the Asia Cup final with a victory over Sri Lanka in the Super 4 game. Earlier, they had beaten Pakistan too in a Super 4 game.

However, one person’s display has stood out. KL Rahul. he missed the first two games of the Asia Cup due to injury. Then he got inducted into the XI as Shreyas Iyer suffered a back spasm. However, he performance has been stellar. He has kept the wickets and scored a brilliant ton against Pakistan too.

“KL Rahul is giving us that stability with the bat in the middle-order,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“That’s why batting in the middle-order is really difficult. MS Dhoni nailed that art. However, I am not at all comparing KL Rahul with MS Dhoni. Plus, he did a different role of batting at number 6/7 compared to KL Rahul.

“But I feel he is slowly mastering his role perfectly. He put a partnership with Ishan Kishan initially against Sri Lanka too. When Dunith Wellalage was in a great rhythm, KL Rahul left it alone for two deliveries. That was a very good sign. It showed us that he had a good game plan.

As for the India vs Pakistan match, Babar Azam elected to bowl after he won the toss but the team soon lost their grip after a 121-run opening stand between skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul hit 122* and 111* respectively to extend India’s domination in an unbeaten stand of 233.

“Me and KL are both conventional cricketers, we don’t try fancy stuff but we can get a lot of purchase through good cricket shots. Great partnership and good signs for Indian cricket. Very happy for him to come back to ODI cricket in that manner,” Player of the Match, Virat Kohli said after the game.

Pakistan’s bowling, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, had rattled India’s top order last week in an Asia Cup group game, bowling them out for 266 before the match was abandoned because of rain.

But Rohit, Gill, Rahul and Kohli came roaring back in the Super Four contest to take the attack to the bowlers.

With AFP inputs