Shoaib Malik feels KL Rahul went into a shell and he should have been a little more proactive.
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik says KL Rahul was not proactive enough during his 107-ball 66 in the World Cup final against Australia at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad.
“He has been taking a lot of responsibility when India lose quick wickets up front. If you will see his today’s innings 66 off 107 balls, it was not a KL Rahul innings. He went into a zone, where he only wanted to play the whole fifty overs. He should have been a little more proactive,” Malik said on A Sports.
“When you are batting on tough condition and you are not able to hit the boundaries, at least you rotate the strike. He has played a lot of dots ball,” said Malik.
Misbah-ul-Haq questioned the way KL Rahul played against the spinners.
“KL Plays spin very well and we have seen it throughout the tournament. He plays well square of the wicket, front of the wicket, uses his feet really well. But today his approach was that he was waiting. He maybe was not trusting the other batters. He was thinking about getting team to 250 and it got difficult,” said Misbah.
Moin Khan says the lack of “counter-attacking” approach from the Indian batters, which hurt them badly.
“There was no counter-attack from the Indian side, but you got to praise the Australian bowling. The way they placed their fielders was outstanding. Cummins on his own bowling puts three fielders on the leg side and used the bouncers nicely,” said Malik.
Malik says the Australian bowlers used the size of the ground to the perfection.
“Side boundaries were big. They made sure that we will not allow you to hit down the ground, if you want to hit us play shots square of the wickets. You have to give credit to them that they assessed the Indian condition better than the home team and they executed it perfectly,” said Malik.
Source:indianexpress.com