After Shreyas Iyer got ruled out of action for three to six months due to back injury, there have been calls to include Sanju Samson in the limited-overs side. Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Samson has showed flashes of brilliances in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 with 157 runs from five innings including two half-centuries. However, former Indian skipper considers Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul a far better player for India in comparison to Samson.
"If you talk about establishing yourself in the Indian team, I believe KL Rahul is far better than Sanju Samson. He has played Test matches and scored hundreds in many countries. He has performed well in ODIs, both as an opener and in the middle order, and has also scored runs in T20 cricket," Sehwag told Cricbuzz ahead of Royals’ clash against LSG at Sawai Man Singh Stadium on April 19.
On the other hand, Rahul has scored 155 runs from five games so far including one half-century. However, the LSG opener's strike rate of 113.14 has been criticised by many. Sehwag feels that Royals’ have only one quality pacer in the form of Trent Boult and Rahul can capitalise on that.
"KL Rahul is back in form. He scored runs in the previous match. Yes, his strike rate may not have met people's expectations, but his form is a great sign. Rajasthan doesn't have any other fast bowler apart from Trent Boult who has express pace or is very dangerous. They do have dangerous spinners, but if KL Rahul bats for long, he will surely take them apart," the former Indian opened opined.
However, Boult has managed to trouble Rahul with his swing and pace with the new ball. Last year, the left-arm Kiwi pacer came round the wicket to Rahul and got him bowled by a booming in-swinger.
Before the encounter, Royals are at the top of points table with four wins from five games. LSG are in the second place with three wins from five games. Even if LSG win the encounter, it would take a big win to dethrone RR from the top of the table.
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