Sanjay Manjrekar has thinks that KL Rahul‘s impact with the bat “diminishes” when he’s the captain. On Friday, the former cricketer said that Rahul could learn not to lose his natural batting style due to additional responsibility from former captain Virat Kohli.
Manjrekar’s observation came in interaction with ESPNcricinfo during the mid-innings break of the 2nd ODI between India and South Africa. After batting first, Rahul secured a 79-ball 55 with 4-boundaries, playing the anchor as Shikhar Dhawan (29 off 38) and Rishabh Pant (85 off 71) attacked from the other side.
Manjrekar didn’t fault Rahul’s method in this innings but said he would like him to be better to say Kohli in the future. He said:
“When he’s a captain [for Punjab Kings], he has a strike rate of 133, and when he’s not the captain 146. So this is KL Rahul; when he becomes captain, the impact that he makes as a batter gets diminished, and that’s something that hurts the team in the end, and we have seen it hurt Punjab Kings in the IPL. Today, you could say with Rishabh Pant batting there and the kind of overall confidence that the Indian team currently has, he saw potential issues had he got out early, especially with Virat Kohli gone.”
Manjrekar added:
“So I can understand the innings but going forward, I just want to see KL Rahul [be] the guy who makes an impact with the bat. For example, Virat Kohli didn’t lose Virat Kohli, for example, when he became the captain, the batter who won him a lot of games. I want to see the same with KL Rahul.”
In the same video, former Proteas batter Daryll Cullinan also said if India loses the game, he won’t blame Rahul because he played according to the circumstances. He added:
“I thought he played the right sort of innings… Had he got out, you just quite not know because the thought at the back of mind would have been, ‘Well, how good are we going to be in the middle-order?’ For India, it was about occupying the crease… If India loses this, I won’t point fingers at Rahul’s innings. One or two, in particular, Dhawan’s was a soft dismissal, and that’s where I would point the fingers.”
That's a FIFTY for the Skipper.
This also brings up a 100-run partnership between @klrahul11 & @RishabhPant17 👏👏
Live – https://t.co/CYEfu9VBB1 #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/L6G8zH5Lbf
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 21, 2022
Though only a stand-in skipper in limited-overs cricket, Rahul is currently the appointed leader to succeed Rohit Sharma (T20Is and ODIs) and Kohli (in Tests) subsequently.
KL Rahul will have to manage to ensure that nobody over-bowls: Sanjay Manjrekar.
Innings Break!
Half-centuries from Rishabh Pant (85) & KL Rahul (55) propel #TeamIndia to a total of 287/6 on the board.
Scorecard – https://t.co/CYEfu9Eyz1 #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/oZdNd9SFQi
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 21, 2022
India establishes a target of 288 for South Africa in Paarl(Town in South Africa). Looking ahead to the 2nd innings, Manjrekar said the key to Rahul’s leadership would be “staying in the moment.”
He said that, like his match, Temba Bavuma, Rahul would have to find a way to use his bowlers optimally. Manjrekar said:
“Staying in the moment is key, no long-term plans. Because that was the most impressive part of Bavuma’s captaincy and how he used his bowlers optimally. Rahul didn’t do that in the last game. A couple of his bowlers were being expensive, but he completed their 10. Today Shamsi bowled as much as he should and even with Keshav Maharaj and Markam… So India [will have to] find a way to ensure that nobody over-bowls – if it’s their day, they complete the ten overs; if they are not bowling well, then they don’t bowl the full quota of 10.”
Also read:- “Ray Jennings state Virat Kohli in 2009 he will be upcoming Indian captain”- Dillon du Preez.