'Total team man...' - Sunil Gavaskar Drops His Verdict on KL Rahul

KL Rahul is one of the few players from the former leadership group still playing red-ball cricket, following the departures of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Rahul is currently playing in the first Test match between India and England in Leeds. He had a good start in the first innings but was unable to capitalise, leaving for 42 runs. 

KL Rahul appeared to be in outstanding form on Day 3, hitting seven boundaries to end the day undefeated at 47 off 75 balls. On Sunday, June 22, his promising knock put India ahead by 96 runs at 90/2. In the first inning, he had a chance to turn his start into a significant score, but he lost it. As India attempts to give the hosts a lofty goal, the 33-year-old would like to capitalise on his second-innings start and smash a big score on Day 4.

Sunil Gavaskar praises KL Rahul:

His influence in the series has been so great that Sunil Gavaskar has praised the India opener profusely and disclosed the reason why the Karnataka cricketer hasn't yet reached his full potential. He said, “Total team man. He has even been asked to keep wickets. He does that for the team, and that's what you want in the team. You see the way he reacts to the situation. He's got an equanimity about him, which is so rare because in today's day and age, where everybody's got to be doing things to show that they have achieved something, his celebrations are also muted. One thing everybody agrees about KL Rahul is that he doesn't know how good a player he is. I mean, he would agree."

Rahul was praised by Sunil Gavaskar, who described him as a gifted cricket player with all the shots in the book. The former cricket player who is now a broadcaster believes that self-doubt may be preventing the Mangaluru native from reaching his full potential. He added, "He's got so much talent. Look at all the shots on the offside, leg-side, the flick, everything. All the shots, but he hasn't lived up to that. Now, that could be a bit of self-doubt in his mind or whatever that sometimes keeps the Bangalore boys from fulfilling their potential."

Rahul's cover drive was praised by Gavaskar as being flawless. The former hoped that the Indian opener would score almost 700 runs and have a great series for India. Gavaskar concluded, saying, "Thrilling to watch off the front foot, off the back foot, then the straight batter drive, which we saw just now and the cover drive. I can rave about that cover drive because there's perfection in that. I hope that he comes good in this series and scores over 500, maybe 700 runs. That would be fantastic from India."

Stay tuned for more cricket news.