“3 failures won't change the fact that KL Rahul is our best batsman in T20Is” - Vikram Rathour

Team India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has backed KL Rahul to come good after the opener endured another batting failure in the third T20I.

KL Rahul was bowled for a duck after he was beaten by the pace of Mark Wood as India went down to England by eight wickets in the third T20I in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The 28-year-old has scored only one run from three innings in the series so far.

However, defending KL Rahul at a post-match press conference, Rathour expressed confidence that the prolific T20 scorer will soon be back among the runs soon. He said:

“Anybody can have a lean phase. In the last one year, KL (Rahul) has been our best batsman in the T20 format. He’s averaging 40-plus with a strike rate of 145. Three failures do not change the fact that he is, maybe, the best batsman we have in his format. He has done really well for us in the past year.”

According to India’s batting coach, this is the time for the team to stand behind KL Rahul, and they will do the same. Rathour added in this regard:

“As a team, we need to support him. I am absolutely sure he will come out of this lean phase that he is going through.”

KL Rahul’s poor form with the bat continues 😓#INDvENG #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/Z5YirxiFUn

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) March 16, 2021

White-ball players like KL Rahul do get a little rusty: Vikram Rathour

Rathour agreed to an observation that the white-ball players were somewhat rusty going into the series, as India have been playing Test matches of late. He admitted:

“I agree with you. They (white-ball players) do get a little rusty. The best we can do is keep providing them practice. They have been having lot of net sessions. They have been batting in the middle also. That’s all we can do and hope that one innings or one shot and people like KL Rahul can be back in form.”

Indian captain Virat Kohli also backed KL Rahul at the post-match presentation, calling him a champion player. Kohli asserted that the attacking opener will remain one of India’s main batters in the format along with Rohit Sharma.

Virat Kohli backs KL Rahul to come good and says he will remain 🇮🇳’s main batter 🤩💪#INDvENG #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/FySHUqxZa6

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) March 16, 2021

KL Rahul has an excellent T20I record. In 48 matches for the country, the right-hander has amassed 1543 runs, doing so at a healthy average of 40.6 and a strike-rate of 143.13. The batsman has hammered two hundreds and 12 fifties in T20I cricket as well.