In the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul took charge of the Indian team for the first time in an ODI match against South Africa. The result wouldn’t have been what he was looking for as the hosts beat the Men in Blue by 31 runs after a strong performance with both the bat as well as the ball.
Following the game, several questions were raised surrounding some of the decisions made by KL Rahul as captain including his own batting position in the team as well as not utilising Venkatesh Iyer as a bowling option. However, former Indian cricketer Saba Karim believes KL Rahul needs more time before being evaluated as a captain.
Speaking on his YouTube channel KhelNeeti, he mentioned that his batting form is also likely to have an impact on his captaincy. “We should give some time to KL Rahul. It is very important for him to concentrate on his batting. He will shine as a captain if he is able to score a lot of runs with the bat.”
Saba Karim also highlighted that India should’ve capitalized on the opportunity of using Venkatesh Iyer as a bowler. The specialist bowlers went for a lot of runs and failed to take charge of the game in the middle overs and that is where Iyer could’ve provided with something different.
“India have struggled to find the sixth bowling option for a while. It is important to make use of someone like Venkatesh Iyer when you have him in the side. He should have been used yesterday, especially when Shardul Thakur wasn’t bowling too sharply,” he said.
South Africa managed to shake off early setbacks with the bat and ended up posting a massive total of 297 thanks to twin centuries from Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen. The latter, especially, was the aggressor-in-chief and took on the Indian bowlers for fun.
Saba Karim also pointed out that India haven’t been able to come out on top in tight situations. This was also the case during the Test series which they lost 2-1. New head coach Rahul Dravid hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts and the morale in the camp could need some lifting.
“There has been a big shift in India’s approach as we haven’t been able to seize crucial moments in both Tests and ODIs. The energy in the field was missing. Rahul Dravid and the team management will have to work very hard to revive the team,” he concluded.
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