‘Having KL at No 5 Gives us Good Depth’: Skipper Rohit Lauds Rahul’s Resilient Knock in Kolkata – News18

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma talked highly of KL Rahul for his gritty half-century against Sri Lanka to help India register a series-clinching 4-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens. Rahul scored unbeaten 64 runs off 103 balls which was laced with 6 boundaries as India chased down the 216-run target in 43.2 overs. It was not an ideal start for India in the chase as they were three down for just 62.

Rohit said that having a player like Rahul at number 5 position gives good depth in the batting order.

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“It was a close game but games like these teach you a loss. We had to build an innings under pressure. KL has been batting at five for a long period of time now and it gives us depth. Gives you confidence as well at the top of the order for us to go and bat freely. It was a good display of batsmanship,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.

The Indian skipper suggested that he doesn’t get much into the debate of having a mandatory left-handed batter in the middle order as he has faith in the quality of the right-handers right now in the team.

“It’ll be nice to have a left-hander, but I don’t believe too much into it. Ideally, we would like to have a left-hander, but we know the quality of the right-handers who are out there in the middle. They can tackle situations when put under pressure,” he added.

Rohit further said that the team management has not thought about making any changes for the next ODI and said that they will take a call after reaching Thiruvananthapuram.

“We haven’t thought about it yet, once we get there we’ll have a look at the pitch and have a look at some of our guys. There are 3 ODIs coming up against New Zealand as well, so we need to keep the guys fresh. We’ve got a long season now and we need to keep everything in mind. If needed, we’ll make some changes,” he said.

Also Read |Rohit Sharma is Pretty Clear That’s Where he Wants me to Bat – KL Rahul

The swashbuckling opener also heaped praise on left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav as he triggered a collapse in the middle order with three wickets.

“For him (Kuldeep Yadav) to come back and play the game he played today, it was fantastic. Literally got us back in the game. They were batting run-a-ball and Kuldeep, as we’ve seen quite often, comes and gets the wicket. He’s quite confident as a bowler right now and it definitely augurs well with the team,” Rohit said.

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