India's star batter KL Rahul continues to rise through the ranks. He has shown great adaptablity and that has strengthened the team's middle-order. On Sunday, Rahul continued to play his role to near perfection as he scored 102 runs off only 64 balls, playing a crucial role in helping India get past the score of 400 against Netherlands in Bengaluru. Former Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik heaped praises on Rahul and termed him the best number 5 batter in the world.
"The best at No 5 in the world cricket. Klassen (Heinrich) needs a base to get going. But if you compare, India have got the best batter at 5, who can play in any sort of situation," Malik told A Sports.
"This is why KL bats at 5. If India will lose two or three wickets early, he is someone, who can play according to the situation.
"He can finish the match, can improvise, can play with a good strike rate, and we have seen it today. He is good against spinners as well as the pacers. He picks the gaps and plays the field. Against Australia, we have seen, he was the one who finished the match," he added.
Rahul made history on Sunday, smashing India's fastest century in Cricket World Cup. He got to the milestone in 62 balls. In the match, Rahul hit 11 fours and four sixes. He struck runs at a strike rate of over 159. Rohit Sharma, India's skipper had the fastest Cricket World Cup century for India previously. It had come in 63 balls against Afghanistan in the ongoing tournament only in Delhi.
In nine World Cup matches so far, KL has scored 347 runs at an average of 69.40 and a strike rate of over 93. He has scored one century and a fifty, with the best score of 102. He is India's fourth-highest run-scorer in this World Cup, behind Virat Kohli (594), Rohit (503) and Shreyas Iyer (421 runs).