With England on the brink of what would turn out to be a 26-run win in the second Test against Pakistan, India’s stand in captain for the first Test against Bangladesh, KL Rahul responded to his view of the Bazball style of cricket. “To watch, it is really really exciting. Watching these two Test matches against Pakistan,” Rahul said in a press conference ahead of the two-match series starting Wednesday, December 14.
“I’ve been watching the games and it’s really exciting. Really enjoying Test cricket being played like that. Very fearless, very aggressive. Taking the game on.”
The 30-year-old further denied England’s brand of cricket as ‘reckless’. “It’s how you view it. For me as a cricketer, it’s not reckless. They have a certain mindset and they’ve thought about it. Their players are doing the job for their team. When you’re doing that it doesn’t really matter how you’ve done it.”
The Two Captains – @klrahul & Shakib Al Hasan pose with the silverware ahead of the two-match Test series.#BANvIND pic.twitter.com/IlcH39MncZ
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 12, 2022
“That’s worked for them. Each team has their own way. Obviously all teams can learn a thing or two from teams that are doing well and how they’ve really performed. It’s not always going to be the same approach. You turn up and (play) according to the conditions and where you are.” Asked about the brand of cricket the team would adopt under him going into the series, Rahul said, “One thing is sure, you’ll see aggressive cricket from our side.”
India, who were the runner ups from the last World Test Championship cycle stand fourth in the tally as of now while Bangladesh are at the bottom of the nine-team points table. The team has had a barrage of injury problems to address with captain Rohit Sharma to miss the first match, while Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami are ruled out of the entire series.
“When captain gets injured, it’s something that the team will really miss but we’re hoping that he recovers and comes back for the second Test,” the stand in captain said.
On Virat Kohli’s return to form and Shubman Gill in Tests
Having scored his 71st international century in the T20 Asia Cup, being India’s top run scorer at the recent T20 World Cup, and scoring another hundred in the ODI series against Bangladesh, KL Rahul feels Virat Kohli will be able to channel his recent form in Test cricket as well.
“He’s been around for so long, he’s such an experienced player. His mindset, his passion for the team has always remained the same, the commitment that he gives for the team, it’s been on show for everyone to see, you can’t really question that,” Rahul said.
The Indian opener also heaped praise of Shubman Gill as an all format player. “How he’s transformed and how he is getting better at his game is wonderful to see. I think Test matches, whenever he has got the opportunity he has done the job for the team. He’s young but he has a temperament for the longer format or whatever format he plays.”
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