"He has silenced his critics with this knock" - Danish Kaneria on KL Rahul's batting exploits in IND vs SL 2nd ODI

Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria recently lauded Team India's wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul for his impressive batting performance in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Thursday, January 12.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaneria mentioned that Rahul displayed great composure under pressure to bail India out of danger. He noted that the right-handed batter came out to bat when the Sri Lankan bowlers were at the top.

He reckoned that while many would raise questions over Rahul's low strike rate, the Indian batter's knock was crucial considering the situation of the match. The 42-year-old believes that the player has silenced his critics by steering the Men in Blue to victory.

"A lot of people would say that KL Rahul batted very slowly," Kaneria explained. "However, he needed to stay at the crease, considering the situation. The bowlers were in a great rhythm, and he needed to break that. You have to give respect to the bowlers in such cases. We must understand that it wasn't a T20 game. He has silenced his critics with this knock."

Notably, Rahul has been under the scanner lately for his sub-par performances in white ball cricket. However, he managed to turn things around with a superb unbeaten 64-run knock against Sri Lanka.

India were on the back foot after losing early wickets while chasing a tricky 216-run target. Rahul stitched together a brilliant 75-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Hardik Pandya, propelling his team to pole position.

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"Was able to survive it all" - Danish Kaneria on KL Rahul's match-winning innings

Danish Kaneria further went on to say that KL Rahul had a tough job to do, given that the wicket at Eden Gardens was quite difficult to bat on.

He pointed out that there was something for both fast bowlers and spinners on the surface. The former leg spinner reserved high praise for Rahul for being able to counter the Sri Lankan bowlers in challenging conditions.

"KL Rahul won the match for Team India with his batting," he added. "He scored 64 runs on a tricky wicket. It wasn't an easy pitch to bat on. We saw wickets fell quickly, and there was great carry as well. There was also some turn on offer for the spinners. But Rahul was able to survive it all."

With their four-wicket win in the second ODI, Rohit Sharma and Co. have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The two nations will compete in the third and final fixture in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, January 15.