Ahmedabad: India skipper Virat Kohli has called opener KL Rahul a ‘champion’ player and backed him to continue playing for the Men in Blue despite poor scores in the ongoing T20I series against England.
Rahul, who had a splendid outing with the bat last year, has been going through a rough patch with three ducks in the last four innings. The 28-year-old batsman came under heavy criticism after he was dismissed for a duck once again by England pacer Mark Wood for a four-ball duck on Tuesday.
“He will continue to be one of our main batters along with Rohit at the top of the order. We don’t have any concerns there. It’s a matter of five-six balls in this format and suddenly you are back in that zone,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
Kohli also highlighted that Rahul has been statistically good in numbers in the last two to three years, which are probably better than anyone in the shortest format of the game.
“I was going through a lean patch about two games ago. He (KL Rahul) has been a champion player. If you look at his stats in the last 2-3 years, they are probably better than anyone in T20,” Kohli added.
Kohli also pointed out how all-rounder Hardik Pandya is willing to contribute in various roles. He said that they have given extra responsibility to Pandya, and is happy with the all-rounder’s progress as the third seamer in the line-up.
“You need to figure out which other all-rounder can be featured into the XI. We want to give Hardik a bit more responsibility with the ball because he’s going to be a vital part of this team moving forward. With the ball, he is coming along nicely,” said Kohli.
