KL Rahul as WORLD Cup Opener

[Tendulkar1996]

Rahul doesnt look sure of himself at all,i have little hope for him.This might finally be the unmaking of rahul and he goes the kambli way.His horrible shot selection problem again happened today.

I hope he somehow steps up and becomes the man.

Edited June 22, 2019 by Tendulkar1996

[rtmohanlal]

11 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

He scored on all kind of pitches in IPL. They all were not flat 

may be ....but he lacks temperament if not both technique and temperament at international level.

[jusarrived]

7 hours ago, rtmohanlal said:

always suspected  about his flexibility   and there by his adaptability in all conditions and all match situations. And it is showing  off now.

Also, there needed to be a left hander  to partner Rohit. The team is with out no left handers .

Where did it show he’s struggling in these conditions?  He has an obvious weakness against inswing , but he’s better equipped to handle swing than Rohit/Dhawan . You are making as though he’s been out for single digits in both the matches . He can definitely do much better , has to improve his strike rotation but he’s the best bet to open atm 

[jusarrived]

47 minutes ago, SK_IH said:

Yep classic case of lacking confidence. He is unsure of how to build an innings.

I honestly don’t think he will survive with his approach for too long . He has to use the power plays and try to build an innings . We don’t need him to score big hundreds , I will take a quick 50 which can give the innings some momentum at the start . 

[rtmohanlal]

3 hours ago, jusarrived said:

Where did it show he’s struggling in these conditions?  He has an obvious weakness against inswing , but he’s better equipped to handle swing than Rohit/Dhawan . You are making as though he’s been out for single digits in both the matches . He can definitely do much better , has to improve his strike rotation but he’s the best bet to open atm 

what ever it be, when  going thru the scorecard , the main culprit is definitely him.  30 of 53 balls against this weak AFG team  is not at all being adequate of a quality opener. Once Sharma got out early, it was on  his shoulders to keep the momentum   going but he failed.

Being an opener, he had the luxury of all the other batsmen to follow him, yet he was not upto the mark.Only Dhoni apart from him had str: in 50s in the inns, but even he had to be a bit cautious because of him & Jadhav being the last specialist pair remaining , once Kohli got out.More over, it is not the old Dhoni who is playing now. India can thank its bowlers from rescuing them from utter humiliation.

[Kothili]

5 hours ago, jusarrived said:

Where did it show he’s struggling in these conditions?  He has an obvious weakness against inswing , but he’s better equipped to handle swing than Rohit/Dhawan . You are making as though he’s been out for single digits in both the matches . He can definitely do much better , has to improve his strike rotation but he’s the best bet to open atm 

Exactly. Give No-hit and Gabbar a swinging pitch and watch them sh!t their pants. KL is way better. Bambi lobby ruined his chances.

[Kothili]

1 hour ago, rtmohanlal said:

what ever it be, when  going thru the scorecard , the main culprit is definitely him.  30 of 53 balls against this weak AFG team  is not at all being adequate of a quality opener. Once Sharma got out early, it was on  his shoulders to keep the momentum   going but he failed.

Being an opener, he had the luxury of all the other batsmen to follow him, yet he was not upto the mark.Only Dhoni apart from him had str: in 50s in the inns, but even he had to be a bit cautious because of him & Jadhav being the last specialist pair remaining , once Kohli got out.More over, it is not the old Dhoni who is playing now. India can thank its bowlers from rescuing them from utter humiliation.

You must be Alice in blunderland. This is a rubbish team that cannot play spin. What is this left right combination fetish of yours. The greatest ODI opening pair (Greenidge/Haynes) were both right handed that faced the fiercest bowling in the world at the time. Dont say Sachin and Ganguly.

[Yoda-esque]

Most overhyped and overrated player in the team.

[jf1gp_1]

Rahul has been brilliant this WC. The innings he played against SA much have been huge boast and you see same  as an opener. I hope he continues doing whatever he is doing and all this coming from someone who didn't want Rahul in WC squad. 

[Pandya_Power]

I completely agree that rotation of strike is an issue. But I feel that he is a couple of decent scores away from expressing himself more confidently this WC. If he can play well in the game against Eng & WI, he will be in very good shape in the knockout stages.

[ShoonyaSifar]

A difficult pitch against a very good spin attack, it happens. 

 

Our problem is that below par middle order, not sure if adding Pant to the mix as a specialist batsman will be of much help. He has to play as a keeper-batsman else he too will struggle. Will Dhoni agree to play as a specialist batsman? Have my doubts.

[nevada]

As the dot balls piled up, he became desperate and tried that risky shot. Keeping wickets intact at the start is important but so is scoring runs. Premeditated defensive shots against hittable balls is as bad premeditated hoicks. 

[cowboysfan]

atleast he is not getting out to low scores,lets not act like Dhawan was in great form before his century.

[SK_IH]

49 minutes ago, cowboysfan said:

atleast he is not getting out to low scores,lets not act like Dhawan was in great form before his century.

The point is even after getting a start he looks uncertain. Dhawan usually scores a 100 once set. Rahul disintegrates when he is ready to hurt the opposition.

[Stuge]

18 hours ago, Nikola said:

I hate it when he throws wicket. Did in last 2 matches when he had chance to score big runs. If he gets out to good ball at start then fine but when you are well set and have taken time you can't throw it in worldcup and that too twice now in row.

He has a habit of throwing away wickets .

[CG]

Kl Rahul is at his best when he is attacking,he has been far too defensive this wc.

[rtmohanlal]

10 hours ago, Kothili said:

You must be Alice in blunderland. This is a rubbish team that cannot play spin. What is this left right combination fetish of yours. The greatest ODI opening pair (Greenidge/Haynes) were both right handed that faced the fiercest bowling in the world at the time. Dont say Sachin and Ganguly.

left/right combo helps . Just because  Greenidge/Haynes were  a great pair doesn't change that fact. Even several past players have acknowledged that it helps at the crease. It makes bowler alter their lilne & lengths all the time which becomes a bit more  difficult.

[rtmohanlal]

5 hours ago, nevada said:

As the dot balls piled up, he became desperate and tried that risky shot. Keeping wickets intact at the start is important but so is scoring runs. Premeditated defensive shots against hittable balls is as bad premeditated hoicks. 

this ... for an opener , if he settles in by consuming a bit more balls, he should play   longer inns and make up for consuming more balls at the start .This Rahul didn't do.

[Norman]

If we are serious about winning the world cup , we should drop Rahul back to no.4 and open with Pant. Drop anyone of Shankar or Jadhav. 

[nevada]

12 minutes ago, Norman said:

If we are serious about winning the world cup , we should drop Rahul back to no.4 and open with Pant. Drop anyone of Shankar or Jadhav. 

I think it is better to back Rahul now as opener rather than going with Pant. With Rahul, the deficiencies are known and he and the think tank can work on fixing it. Pant as opener is an exciting prospect but he too will have issues like Rahul. There is not much time to figure out and fix them. 

Edited June 23, 2019 by nevada