Former India head coach and legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble was impressed with KL Rahul's performance in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal against Australia in Dubai. Batting at no.6, Rahul scored 42 runs from 34 balls helped India chase down the target of 265 with 11 balls to spare. Kumble wants Rahul to bat ahead of Axar Patel at no.5. He also pointed out that every time Rahul has an off day, he faces widespread criticism.
“With the kind of innings that he had, we were talking while we were watching that, saying that he should have been ahead of Axar Patel. I know Axar did a good job of getting that partnership with Virat Kohli, but someone like KL Rahul, at that stage, this is what he can do," Kumble said while speaking on ESPNCricinfo.
“There is a lot of pressure on him. If he does well, it’s expected. If he fails even in one innings, suddenly the whole world comes after him. He was under pressure, even with his keeping in the last game, but today he showed what he is capable of," Kumble added.
Rahul likes to bat at top but wants to play the given role
After the four-wicket win, Rahul also admitted that he likes to bat at the top of the order. However, he understands what is required of him in the current setup and is looking to fulfill the role he has been given by the captain Rohit Sharma.
“Yeah, I do [enjoy batting at the top]. I mean, I won’t lie. It’s after opening the batting in Australia in Tests and having to face that attack in Australia, and you know how red-ball [cricket] is much harder," Rahul said while speaking to Star Sports after the match.
"So, I'm quite used to going up and down the order so I'm just happy getting a chance to play in the middle and whatever role is given, I think it's really helped me understand my game a lot more and I've had to work on boundary hitting a lot more in the last year or so because the last ODI we played in Sri Lanka I batted at No. 6, so I knew that's where I'll be batting and [we] needed a left-hander in the top order," he added.
Rahul has scored 106 runs from three innings in the tournament so far. He remained unbeaten in the run chase against Australia and Bangladesh.
