Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that KL Rahul is a capable number 6 who can win Test matches for India. Rahul tasted success in Test cricket as an opener but his form dipped in the past couple of years in red-ball cricket. However, the absence of Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan allowed Rahul to make a place for himself in the middle order for a two-match Test series against South Africa.
The wicketkeeper batter played a brilliant knock of 101 runs in the first innings of the Centurion Test on a tricky batting surface which impressed many.
Bangar feels that having a player like Rahul in the middle-order is a good sign for Team India as he is a stroke player who can bat well with the tail.
“If he has to continue playing in that particular position, I think it’s going to be a huge plus for India because he is a stroke player. He has batted at various positions and he can bat very well with the tail,” Bangar told Star Sports.
“We have seen this not only in Test cricket but in other formats of the game as well. So all those things put together indeed make KL Rahul a capable No. 6 who can put India in winning situations in Test matches,” he added.
The former India batting coach further recalled the time when Rahul batted in the middle-order on his debut Test match in 2014 against Australia where he failed to score big.
“I was part of the dressing room when he got a chance in the Melbourne Test in 2014. He batted at No. 5 or No. 6 and was probably dismissed while playing the sweep shot in the first innings. So the start was not good,” he added.
The flamboyant wicketkeeper batter has come a long way as he become a crucial part of India’s red-ball set-up and played several crucial knocks for India on big occasions.
“However, he scored centuries in the Boxing Day Tests of 2021 and 2023 in Centurion. If you perform well in any place, you have good memories of that place and when you go back to that place, your confidence is much better,” he added.
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