Following India’s win over New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy final, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma hailed wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul for the calm he brings to the side while battling the pressure situations, and said he is very happy with his contributions to the team at number six.
India’s domination in ICC events continued as after last year’s T20 World Cup win, they secured the ICC Champions Trophy, their third title (including the 2002 edition when they shared with Sri Lanka) and their seventh ICC white-ball title in total.
KL Rahul, who has played at multiple positions in the batting order, was given the responsibility of number six, as the team wanted to put Axar Patel at five, to give extra depth to the side. Rahul played a crucial role in the middle, scoring a valuable 34* in 33 balls in a crunch situation. In five matches and four innings, KL scored 140 runs at an average of 140.00 and a strike rate of 97.90, with the best score of 42*.
Following the match in the post-match presser, Rohit said, “When we discussed about KL’s batting position, that is one thing we discussed quite deeply about how calm he is when he is batting. The pressure does not get to him with that calmness, we wanted that calmness in the middle somewhere. And also, we wanted to use a left-hander in the middle. So that actually worked out in both ways for us.”
“KL obviously has been doing a lot of challenging work for the team for so many years now. And I am very, very happy with how he managed to pull this tournament and batted in the pressure situation, both in the semifinals and this game as well. The contribution may not be 70-80, but those 30-40s are a very, very important one. When you are chasing, run the ball at the back end, it can get tough. It can get difficult. But with KL being there, we know that he has got that mind where he keeps himself calm and keeps the dressing room also very calm, so I am very happy with how he you know managed in this tournament and really happy for you know the contributions that he made for the team,” he added.
Speaking about his own knock of 76 in 83 balls after scoring just 104 runs in the first four matches, Rohit said that he did not do anything different today since he realised that it is important to score runs in the powerplay when the pitch gets slower later and fielders spread across the field when spinners arrive. He also shared that he wanted to bat longer and take the team into a more comfortable position.
“And we are doing second batting. It is already slow. It is very important for you to take chances. And I do not think that I will bat like this, or that I will play like that. I see the bowler and think of where I can charge him, where I can play the shot. I think about all this before I go. And you may not see the consistency of big runs, but if I am very clear in my mind about what I have to do – then as long as I am very clear, I think it is pretty much okay. Today, you saw that after 10 overs, I changed my game a little. I wanted to play longer. But I went to put a bit of pressure and I got out. But again, you feel very happy when you win a match and when you contributed to it – It feels even better,” he added.
Rohit also pointed out that despite contributing so much in the 2019 World Cup and emerging as a leading run-getter with five tons, he could not win. So these 30-40 run knocks in winning causes give more satisfaction and happiness.
“So, I think it was very important for me to do something and contribute and bring the team in a position where there is a little comfort for the rest of the batting order,” he added.
The skipper hailed the “class” of his opening partner Shubman Gill, and said both the batters like to pla
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