Classy Rolls-Royce Rahul is a next-level cricketer: Kris Srikkanth

Former Indian chief selector and commentator Kris Srikkanth has heaped praise on the Indian middle-order batter KL Rahul, terming him ‘a next-level cricketer’ that the Indian cricket has witnessed in this particular format.

Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, the former batter has asserted that KL Rahul is India’s go-to man in the longest format of the game and in the 50-over contests, terming him the man for a crisis.

"The man for crisis, India in trouble, Classy Rolls Royce Rahul, he is the only man. India goes to Rahul. In Tests, he scores and wins games; in ODIs, he scores and wins games; he scored in the Champions Trophy as well; he scores everywhere,” Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel 'Cheeky Cheeka'.

“He is a next-level cricketer. He scores at 4,5,6,7, everywhere. After Shubman and Virat got out, there was no one else in the middle order for India. After Nitish got out, he batted with Harshit and Siraj and got to his 100 as well. No one else scored at the backend," he added.

"I have been saying this for a long time. Nobody listens. Promote him ahead of Jadeja. What more do you want?" he noted.

Delving into the details of the second ODI against New Zealand, India batted first after losing the toss. At one stage, the Men In Blue were at 118/4 in 23.3 overs, losing both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. 

However, KL Rahul stood tall, scoring a century off 87 balls, and he eventually ended on an unbeaten 112 from 92 balls as India posted a dominating total of 284/7 in 50 overs on a decent and flat wicket.

"The number of cuts he played today was outstanding. In fact, whenever the New Zealand bowlers erred in length outside the off-stump, Gill was very strong in punishing them. He was brilliant. His ODI record is terrific. Gill has kind of mastered this format and you can see the records," he concluded.

In the chase, New Zealand sealed the deal in the game with 15 balls to spare, thanks to Will Young's 87-run knock and Daryl Mitchell's unbeaten 131-run knock off 117 balls. India will lock horns with New Zealand in the series decider on Sunday, January 18, in Indore.

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