ENG VS IND | When in form, KL Rahul has to carry it on without getting complacent, asserts Maninder Singh

08/28/2021

Former India spinner Maninder Singh has said that KL Rahul should capitalise on his form and continue to score big without getting complacent. KL Rahul, who put up an impressive display of batting during the first two Tests, failed to leave his mark in both his innings of the Headingley Test.

After an impressive batting performance during the first two Test matches at Lord’s and Nottingham, Indian batsman KL Rahul found it difficult to score during the third Test at Headingley. Rahul had scored a total of 110 runs from the first match and then played a scintillating 129-run knock at the Home of Cricket to help India register an emphatic 151-run win. The 29-year-old was adjudged Man of the Match for his stellar peroformance.

Hoevever, during the third Test, the India opener was dismissed for a 4-ball duck in the first innings and could manage only 8 runs in the second.

Following Rahul’s lackluster performance, Maninder Singh went on to share his thoughts regarding the Karantaka batsman's current situation.

“It can happen to anybody after you had a couple of great Test matches. The way he got out in the first innings started to create doubts in his mind that 'am I good enough to bat on these kinds of surfaces where the ball is seaming around and swinging.' As far as KL Rahul is concerned, it is a lesson for him that when he is in form, he has to carry it on and not get complacent like he did from the first innings because you start doubting your technique,” said Maninder while speaking to ESPNcricinfo.

After Rahul’s departure in the second innings of the third Test on Friday, Cheteshwar Pujara came out to bat at number 3 and stitched partnerships with both Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli. Pujara was part of a 99-run (unbeaten) stand with the Kohli.

India ended Day 3 at 215/2, trailing England by 139 runs.