"Maska, malai" - Ravi Shastri lauds KL Rahul's knock in IND vs AUS World Cup 2023 clash

Ravi Shastri has lauded KL Rahul for playing a sublime knock in the World Cup 2023 clash between India and Australia.

The Men in Blue bundled out the Aussies for 199 after Pat Cummins opted to set a target in Chennai on Sunday, October 8. Rahul then scored an unbeaten 97 off 115 deliveries to help the hosts register a six-wicket win with 52 deliveries to spare.

While reviewing the game on Star Sports, Shastri was in awe of Rahul's strokeplay. He elaborated:

"Maska, malai - the way he was batting it was enjoyable to watch from outside. He went forward or back and was never caught in no-man's land. He played one or two shots against Zampa where the ball had already gone past him."

The former Indian all-rounder praised the wicketkeeper-batter for scoring runs all around the park and timing his shots to perfection. He stated:

"The wicketkeeper was about to catch the ball and he hit the ball on its head for a four. If you see the wagon wheel, he scored runs everywhere and extremely easily. Chanceless innings, fluent innings and timing was special."

Rahul struck eight fours and two sixes during his innings. He added 165 runs for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli after walking out to bat when India were in dire straits at 2/3.

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"Zampa could have been their trump card" - Harbhajan Singh praises KL Rahul for attacking the leg-spinner

KL Rahul punished Adam Zampa whenever he erred in length. [P/C: AP]

Harbhajan Singh was asked about KL Rahul changing the story of the game by hitting three boundaries in Adam Zampa's first over, to which he responded:

"Absolutely, Zampa could have been their trump card. The Indian bowlers and especially the spinners had bowled extremely well, so there was a lot of responsibility on Zampa that if he picks up wickets he might make the path easy for his team."

The former Indian spinner added that the Karnataka batter's attack on Zampa changed the momentum of the game. He said:

"However, when he came to bowl he was hit for three fours in an over. Zampa's confidence went down slightly there and the Indian camp's confidence increased. KL Rahul plays spin very well, plays late and off the back foot."

Harbhajan concluded by pointing out that the Australian leg-spinner was unable to find his length throughout the Indian innings because of Virat Kohli and Rahul's contrasting approaches against him, with the former playing predominantly off the front foot and the latter off the back foot.