Anil Kumble calls out Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma’s KL Rahul ploy: ‘If he does well, it’s expected; if he doesn’t…’

KL Rahul emphatically finished off India’s chase against Australia in the semi-final with a six and finished unbeaten on 42 off 34 balls. Rahul has been batting at No.6 in the tournament, with all-rounder Axar Patel batting ahead of him at No.5. India great Anil Kumble has now stated that Rahul should be batting ahead of Axar.

“He should have come ahead of Axar Patel,” Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day. “I know Axar did a good job of getting that partnership with Virat Kohli but someone like KL Rahul coming in at that stage and this is what he can do – if he gets to 30, he will ensure that you cross the line.

“He does that and he does that consistently. Yes, he missed out on one opportunity in the last game against New Zealand, but otherwise KL is a class act. This will certainly give him a lot of confidence.”

‘He has showed what he is capable of’

Rahul was unbeaten in the 40s in two of the three innings he has played thus far in this tournament with a strike rate of 96.36. “There is a lot of pressure on him. If he does well, it’s expected. If he fails even in one innings, suddenly the whole world comes after him. He was under pressure, even with his keeping in the last game, but today he showed what he is capable of,” said Kumble.

Rahul said that he takes solace in the fact that captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir trust him after the match against Australia. He openly expressed his frustration over the doubts over his place in the playing XI despite doing whatever the skipper Rohit tells him to do.

“Every time I perform in a series and then there’s a break from ODI series, ODI cricket and then we come back after four or five months there’s a question mark again about ‘oh well will he play in the XI, where does he fit’ and sometimes I’m sitting there thinking what more can I do.

Everywhere that I’ve been asked to play I’ve played and I feel like I have performed my role. Whatever’s been told to me by Rohit I feel like I’ve done that to the best of my ability. And I know that Rohit feels the same and he’s always supported me and backed me with that. So, there’s that confidence going into game that the captain has my back,” he concluded.