"If KL Rahul continues to play waiting game, he'll struggle to keep his place" - Dodda Ganesh

Former Indian cricketer Dodda Ganesh was highly impressed with the way both Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda batted in the recently concluded T20I series against Ireland and England.

Both Hooda and Yadav smashed T20I hundreds with a strike rate of more than 200 and Ganesh feels this is the ideal way to bat in T20 cricket.

KL Rahul, who was India's mainstay at the top of the order, is currently injured and might not be fit before the Asia Cup in August.

Dodda Ganesh took to Twitter on Monday to speak about the importance of Rahul batting with a better strike rate. The 30-year-old was criticized for continuing to play like an anchor in the IPL despite piling on the runs.

Ganesh believes Rahul will need to bat like he used to probably five years ago to ensure that he holds onto his place in the shortest format. He tweeted:

"Hooda and SKY with their intent have shown how T20 batting is done. It’s time KL Rahul too pulls up his socks and bats the way he used to in 2016/17. If he continues to play the waiting game like he does in the IPL, he’ll struggle to keep his place #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter"

Shaw, Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav and Samson are the need of the hour: Dodda Ganesh

Dodda Ganesh also spoke about the importance of players like Prithvi Shaw and Sanju Samson, who are finding it hard to get consistent chances in India's T20I team at the moment. He feels the selectors should look at intent more than any other factor when it comes to shortlisting players, stating:

"Shaw, Hooda, SKY and Samson. These kind of batsmen who bat at the top gear no matter what, are the need of the hour as far as modern-day T20 batting is concerned. Selectors need to take notice of this #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter"

The T20I series against England was a pretty good indication of how the Men in Blue want to play their cricket. It will be interesting to see whether the players Dodda Ganesh mentioned will all get selected for the T20Is against West Indies.