KL Rahul failed to get a big score against South Africa too© AFP
Indian batters were no match to the raw pace of South African bowlers at the Optus Stadium in Perth in a Group 2 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday. Suryakumar Yadav was the only bright spot as slammed a 40-ball 68 to help his team reach 133/9 in 20 overs. The problem started at the top as KL Rahul failed to get going yet again. The right-handed opener allowed Wayne Parnell to bowl a maiden over at the beginning and that put the pressure on captain Rohit Sharma, who fell while looking for quick runs in the powerplay.
Rahul failed to make amends as he departed for a 14-ball 9. Lungi Ngidi breathed fire as he removed Rohit, Rahul, Virat Kohli (12) and Hardik Pandya (2). Wayne Parnell also picked up three wickets.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan praised South African bowlers and slammed India’s sedate batting approach at the top of the order in T20Is.
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“South Africa immense .. the first over set the tone .. it’s surprises how India sometimes start with such little intent to be really aggressive with the bat in T20,” Vaughan wrote.
South Africa immense .. the first over set the tone .. it’s surprises how India sometimes start with such little intent to be really aggressive with the bat in T20 .. #ICCT20WorldCup2022
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 30, 2022
KL Rahul’s form with the bat has been questionable ever since he returned from a long injury and COVID layoff. He played a few good knocks in the Asia Cup but his strike-rate has been an issue at the top of the order for a while now.
It will be interesting to see if the team management continues to pick him despite three big failures in the T20 World Cup.
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