IPL 2021: "He is a finished product and a real banker for his team" - Shaun Pollock on KL Rahul

Former South African captain Shaun Pollock has heaped praise on stylish opening batter KL Rahul for his astounding consistency in the IPL in the last few seasons.

Rahul has scored a truckload of runs at an average of 50+ over the past four seasons. But Rahul has come under the scanner because of a sharp decline in his strike rate since the 2018 season, when he averaged 54.91 and struck the ball at 158.41.

Speaking at Cricbuzz Live, Pollock said that after the 2018 season, Rahul seemingly shut his detractors off by playing at a higher strike rate. The opener has also concentrated on being consistent. He added that the PBKS captain is no longer a work in progress, and is a dependable batter for his side.

Pollock said in this regard:

"Yeah that strike rate of 160, that was the year (2018) when people were saying maybe he is subdued, he needs to start playing out of his game plan, and he showed he can do it, and once those critics were put aside, he concentrated on just being consistent and play his role."

He added:

"Consistency is the word, isn't it? As a captain of their side, at the top of the order, that's been the key. The fantastic seasons he had with Mayank in combination has been brilliant. Rahul is so comfortable with the role now. He is a finished product, and a real banker for his team,"

Rahul has had a fabulous campaign this season. The opener has thus far racked up over 500 runs at an average in excess of 50 and a strike rate a touch under 130.

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"He is an educated cricketer" - Shaun Pollock on KL Rahul

The additional pressure of captaincy has seemingly played a role in Rahul batting with caution at the top of the order. But Pollock has said that the right-hander is a thinking cricketer who believes in setting a platform for his side rather than playing high-risk shots at the start of his innings.

"It may be a little bit," said Pollock. "But I think he is an educated cricketer with a full understanding of why not to take those risks at the start of an innings when he can be consistent and give a good platform. What the team has required from him is for him to be consistent. And he has answered it well."

Rahul was at his menacing best against CSK on Thursday. The right-hander cracked an unbeaten 98 off only 42 deliveries with the help of seven fours and eight sixes to take his team to a commanding win. But PBKS missed the playoffs after failing to improve their net run rate sufficiently to get into the top four.