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Updated August 12th, 2021 at 00:15 IST

IND vs ENG 2021: 'KL Rahul's captaincy has improved his batting', says Mohammed Kaif

Mohammad Kaif has opined that KL Rahul is a much better player now and has backed him to perform well in the remainder of the England vs India test series

Reported by: Azhar Mohamed
KL Rahul
Image: PTI | Image:self
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Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif opined that KL Rahul grabbed opportunities with both hands, scoring 84 and 24 runs respectively during the England vs India first test. KL Rahul was a last-minute addition to the playing XI after the first-choice opener Mayank Agarwal was declared unavailable having suffered a concussion. 

Mohammad Kaif stated that KL Rahul's stint as a captain with Punjab Kings has moulded him into a better batsman. "Yeah, definitely. You want to win the game on your own. When opening the batting for the Punjab team, you want to be a match-winner. He's taken the same approach in Test matches. He wants to be the guy to hang in there and score runs. Mein doosro ke liye nahi chodunga (I won't leave it up to the others). That comes with experience. He's been part of the Test squad for two years but he hasn't got a chance to play. He's been travelling around, probably just watching from the outside and thinking about his game and everything's come together for him nicely". Kaif said speaking to Sony

Kaif also believed that with his performance, KL Rahul has confirmed his place in the team for the Lord's Test and that Mayank Agarwal might have to wait for his opportunity. "Rahul has sealed the deal. He'll play a couple of Test matches, there's no doubt about that. He looked in control and India were in a winning position because of that opening stand between Rohit and Rahul, 97 runs in the first innings. The way KL batted, he held the innings and one end. You need someone who can bat long. KL has sealed the deal and we'll see from there. I think Mayank will have to wait for now," Kaif added. 

Pujara currently the 2nd best player in the team after Kohli: Kaif

Mohammad Kaif has also backed Cheteshwar Pujara to do well and has asked people to have patience with the player. "I think Pujara has seen it all in his career. Questions on not scoring enough runs, his strike rate. But I think Pujara has done really well. I think he is currently the 2nd best player in the team after Kohli. If you see his records, his stats - he is after Kohli at the moment. Recently we were celebrating Pujara reaching 6000 runs, and he is the wall of cricket, just a few months back. I think he is the same player, just have patience he will come back." Kaif concluded. 

India vs England Lord's Test

The England vs India Pataudi Trophy Lord's test will start tomorrow and team India will hope that Pujara comes good while KL Rahul continues his good form. Team India are in for a chance to the XI that played the last game after Shardul Thakur was ruled out following a hamstring injury. It is to be seen who replaces the pacer with R Ashwin tipped to make it to the XI, India might also opt to continue with four pacers and include Ishant Sharma into the XI. 

Image credits: PTI 

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Published August 12th, 2021 at 00:15 IST

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