 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Often the way KL Rahul paces his innings gets debated but he is not really worried about that aspect.
"I'm quite used to seeing it and hearing it and reading about it. Sometimes I just sit back and see whether the criticism is valid... That's not something that I try to think about when I go into a game that I need to up my strike rate," he said during a press conference on Friday.
"I try to see what the best thing is for the team and for me to do in that scenario and I try to do that. And not always am I going to be right," he added.
Wicketkeeper batter Rahul finds it hard to express in words how great a servant of Indian cricket Virat Kohli has been and further affirmed hope that many more "games and centuries" are left for the stalwart in international cricket.
Virat scored a century against Pakistan in Dubai at the ongoing Champions Trophy on Sunday, February 23.
In his 299th ODI match, the 'Chase Master' put one of his specials on exhibition while calibrating a flawless route for India's route to success. Pakistan's 241-run total crumbled as Virat paced his knock to effortlessly chase down the target without breaking a sweat.
With a shot struck clean as a whistle, Virat hit the winning runs, celebrated his 51st ODI century and became the fastest to 14,000 ODI runs.
Now, he is on the verge of adding another feather to his hat. India's final group-stage match against New Zealand on Sunday will mark Virat's 300th ODI appearance, making him just the seventh Indian to achieve the feat.
"No, that's a lot of ODI games and a lot of international games, and yeah, he's been. I mean, words fall short to express how good a player he's been and what a great servant of Indian cricket he's been. Yeah, I'm really happy to see that he got the 100 last game as well, and he's been batting really well, and for a player of his calibre, it was about time that he scores that big century and a match-winning century," Rahul said in a press conference on Friday.
Shubman Gill, has found his rich vein of form at the right time. He kicked off the tournament with a blistering 101* against Bangladesh. He topped it up with a solid 46(52) in the blockbuster clash against Pakistan.
Shreyas Iyer has returned to the ODI fold with his mojo. The experienced middle-order star has offered stability in the middle with a touch of aggression in his approach.
"So yeah, it's a great place for us as a team to be in, where Rohit's in real good form, Shubman's in real good form, Virat is in real good form, and Shreyas has played and done his part as well. He got a good 60 last game, and even against England, he was striking the ball really well. So overall, the team is looking really good, and Virat is obviously a very important part of the team," he said.
"Virat and Rohit are the senior players, and you are always looking up to them to step up and score when the big games come. And that's what they've been able to do for so many years. So yeah, hopefully, there are many more hundreds left for him and many more games of international cricket," he added.