Indian opener KL Rahul has been going through a tough time with the bat in the ongoing 20-20 World Cup. The star batter has scores of 4,9 and 9 in the three innings he has batted so far in the tournament. Rahul has been looking completely out of touch as he has failed to rotate the strike hence mounting the pressure on the other opener Rohit Sharma. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has said that it’s time for mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton to help increase the confidence of the batter.
“We have Paddy Upton as the mental conditioning coach and if he has not done anything with him. While the batting coach can tell him his mistakes, there is a need for the mental conditioning coach to talk with the player to increase his confidence. He should tell Rahul that he has got the talent and he can score big runs,” Gavaskar said on Sports Tak.
“Look, you have just played three matches and you have to play a total of 5 matches in the Super 12 stage. You do not have any other opener, I do not think you have an opener who can take the place of Rahul. So you need to show patience with him, we know what he can do when he is in full flow. I think someone needs to have a word with him,” he added.
India to try Rishabh Pant at the top?
With Rahul being out of form, there have been widespread discussions about including Rishabh Pant in the playing XI and making him open the innings. The Indian team management tried Pant in the opening slot in the lead-up to the World Cup but the gamble didn’t pay off.
Meanwhile, India lost their third match against South Africa on Sunday by five wickets. Rohit Sharma won the toss and batted first but the team could only manage to score 133 in their allotted 20 overs. Suryakumar Yadav top scored for India scoring 68 off 40 balls.
South Africa comfortably chased down the target courtesy of half-centuries from Aiden Markram and David Miller. India will next face Bangladesh on 2nd November at Adelaide.
