‘KL Rahul is scared of getting out, he is just restricting himself’: Former greats slam India opener after one other failure

KL Rahul poor run of type continued as he was dismissed for 17 by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon on day two of the second Test on Saturday.

Rahul (17), who survived two DRS appeals by Australia, was trapped leg-before as Lyon tossed one from around the wicket and bought it to deviate sufficient and discover his pads.

Rahul’s saga of failures led to questions from former greats together with Sunil Gavaskar and Mark Waugh. According to Gavaskar, Rahul has a psychological block and doesn’t know whether or not to go ahead or again.

“He doesn’t know whether to go back or come forward. With KL Rahul, he takes his front foot across and the ball is turning into you, you have to play with a straight bat but when you take your front foot across like that you are left with no choice but to play with an angled bat,” Gavaskar stated on Star Sports.

“The chances of you missing the ball are more. Rohit takes the front foot away, so he allows the bat to come around and play the ball in front of the pad. That’s why you see Rohit Sharma look so secure and why Rahul looks tentative,” Gavaskar added.

On the opposite hand, Australia opener Mark Waugh believed Rahul has a continuing concern of getting out which restricts him from taking part in naturally.”I believe KL Rahul has simply to again himself just a little bit. He is frightened of getting out. You can’t bat that method, you’ve bought to be assured in your individual capacity. He is simply proscribing himself. I’d like to see him bat freely and never fear about getting out,” Waugh stated. 

Meanwhile, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar shared his thought on Rahul’s dismissal and stated, “By aggression, I don’t mean he defends three balls and looks to hit a six in the fourth. I want him to be able to bat freely like Virat Kohli starts looking from ones and twos from ball one. That’s the way you become successful. You have to be proactive. When you are worried about getting out, your natural instincts get shackled.”