Following India’s six-wicket loss against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final match on Sunday, former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik said that KL Rahul was trying to bat through the 50 overs.
Speaking to media persons, Malik mentioned that Rahul should have rotated his strike since boundaries weren’t coming.
“KL Rahul was just trying to bat through the 50 overs. He should not have done that, and he should have tried to play his game. If you’re batting in tough conditions and the boundaries aren’t coming easily, then at least you’ve got to rotate the strike. That wasn’t happening; there were a lot of dot balls,” Malik said.
The former right-handed batter added that the Indian wicketkeeper-batter should have been more proactive against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final match.
“He has been taking a lot of responsibility when India loses quick wickets upfront. If you look at his innings (against Australia), 66 off 107 balls, it was not a typical KL Rahul innings. He went into a zone where he only wanted to play the whole fifty overs. He should have been a little more proactive,” he added.
He explained that the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad had long side boundaries, and the Aussie players used it well against the ‘Men in Blue’.
He also added that the World Cup 2023 winners assessed Indian conditions better than the hosts.
“The venue in which this match was played had long side boundaries. The Australians utilized these boundaries very well. They said we won’t let you hit us down the ground, and you can hit us square of the wicket.
Their bowlers used variations very well. The Australians assessed the Indian conditions better than the Indians and then executed their plans,” Malik further added.
