The recently-concluded T20I series against England produced many positives for the Indian cricket team. As the permutations and combinations continue looking ahead at the 2022 T20 World Cup, India have found two consistent performers at the top order in Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav. While the former has emerged as a solid option at No. 3, the latter scored a ton in the third T20I against England on Sunday. They have made a strong case for themselves to give them the long rope going forward. However, with the T20 World Cup just over three months away, India are missing their regular opener KL Rahul.
Rahul is currently recovering after undergoing a surgery. In the last three IPLs, he has scored over 600 runs but his strike-rate could not go past 140.00 in any of the editions. With the kind of performance that Hooda and Yadav are putting in T20Is, former Indian cricket team player Dodda Ganesh feels Rahul needs to pull up his socks.
“Hooda and SKY with their intent have shown how T20 batting is done. It’s time KL Rahul too pulls up his socks and bats the way he used to in 2016/17. If he continues to play the waiting game like he does in the IPL, he’ll struggle to keep his place,” Ganesh, who has played four Tests and one ODI for India, wrote on Twitter.
Hooda and SKY with their intent have shown how T20 batting is done. It’s time KL Rahul too pulls up his socks and bats the way he used to in 2016/17. If he continues to play the waiting game like he does in the IPL, he’ll struggle to keep his place #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter
— | Dodda Ganesh (@doddaganesha) July 11, 2022
“Shaw, Hooda, SKY and Samson. These kind of batsmen who bat at the top gear no matter what, are the need of the hour as far as modern day T20 batting is concerned. Selectors need to take notice of this,” he wrote in another tweet.
Shaw, Hooda, SKY and Samson. These kind of batsmen who bat at the top gear no matter what, are the need of the hour as far as modern day T20 batting is concerned. Selectors need to take notice of this #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter
— | Dodda Ganesh (@doddaganesha) July 11, 2022
Rahul underwent a successful surgery for sports hernia in Germany recently and is expected to be out of competitive cricket for another couple of months. Rahul, who was forced to opt out of the home T20I series against South Africa, has over the years had recurrent lower abdominal related fitness issues, including groin strains and hamstring injuries.
