World Cup 2023: KL Rahul gives you stability and confidence, says Paras Mhambrey

KL Rahul underlined his value to the Indian team with a sublime 97 not out against Australia on Sunday, proving his place in the team was never really in question.

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Rahul’s knock as well as his match-winning partnership with Virat Kohli helped India chase down the target of 200 set by Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey praised the wicketkeeper-batter for lending solidity to the middle-order after his match-winning knock at Chepauk.

“We always knew what Rahul brings to the team, the quality of a batter he is, especially in the middle order. We need someone, and he is that kind of a player who plays spin well, also the fast bowlers and the seamers,” said Mhambrey during an interaction.

“So, in that sense, he gives you the stability and confidence. And, the way he has played in the past, we definitely trusted him, and it’s good to have him back,” Mhambrey said according to PTI.

Together with batting star Kohli (85), Rahul helped rescue the Men in Blue from their disastrous start in their chase of 200 after they were reduced to 2/3 inside the first two overs. The fourth-wicket pair displayed grit and resilience to pull their side out of choppy waters, and eventually put India in the driver’s seat with their partnership that was eventually worth 165 runs.

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Rahul stayed on after Kohli was dismissed with India within sight of the finish line, and would get his team over the line with a six off Australia skipper Pat Cummins, though he would remain stranded three short of a century after the Men in Blue got home with six wickets and 52 deliveries to spare.

The spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja (3/28), Ravichandran Ashwin (1/34) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/42) shared six wickets as India restricted Australia to 199.

“Looking at the way they (Australia) approached the last few games, we realised that they went hard in the first ten overs. We knew with the ball being hard, it does come on to the wicket,” Mhambrey said.

“The approach has been very simple. They went hard against the seamers and spinners.

“So, picking early wickets was really important for us, and that made the difference, as they lost (Mitchell) Marsh early. And that kind of tiled the batting, putting (Steven) Smith with (David) Warner. So, they had a different set-up to go with.”

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Mhambrey feels Indian spinners bring a lot of variety into the attack.

“That’s the beauty of this game. In a team combination, you want variety. And for us, all our spinners offer different kinds of options and varieties,” he said.

“All three of them have the ability, especially someone like Ash (R Ashwin) or (Ravindra) Jadeja. They are the kind of options that you can use in the first powerplay and the middle. Kuldeep (Yadav) is also another option that we can use.”

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep has been simply sensational in his last few outings, including the Asia Cup, and Mhambrey feels credit must be given to him for the amount of hard work that he has done in the past few years.

“Considering the way he has bowled in the last few years, he has played enough cricket to understand that, and he has got the experience, definitely. I am very happy with the way he has progressed. Credit should be given to Kuldeep for the fact that he has worked on it.

“Sometimes when we have these conversations, as a bowler, you gotta have the self-realisation as to what are the areas that I need to work on.

“We have been having that kind of conversation with him for quite a long time now. He has worked on certain things and made some technical changes, and you can see that in his bowling.”

“In the last few years, his speed has gone up, and his length and areas have been better. So, I think there are a lot of big ticks for us.”

India will face Afghanistan next on 11 October at New Delhi.

With inputs from PTI