India wrapped up the second Test victory over Australia within three days, but it isn't just the team's positives that are being talked about since the match has concluded. Seeing opening batter KL Rahul being dismissed for another low score (1 run), the batsman from Karnataka has courted plenty of criticism, with some experts and former cricketers asking for him to be dropped. However, skipper Rohit Sharma has refused to give up on the batter.
Speaking to the media at the press conference, Rohit pledged his support to ‘talented players' like KL Rahul, suggesting those with such potential will get a long rope by the team management.
“Of late, there has been a lot of talk about his batting. For us, as team management, we always look at the potential of any individual, not just KL. I was asked in the past about a lot of players. If a guy has potential, he will get an extended run. Not just KL. If you look at the couple of hundreds he got, especially at Lord's, batting on that damp pitch. Centurion was another win. Both came in India winning both games. That's the potential he has,” Rohit said in the press conference on Sunday.
Speaking of the communication that the team management had with Rahul, Rohit said that the message to the batter was to do what he can do best. The India captain also highlighted Rahul's knocks in England and South Africa as he asserted the quality that the batter has.
“Obviously, of late, there have been a lot of talks. But, from our side, it was clear that we want him to go out and play his game and do what he can do the best, that we have seen him do over the years.
“Of course, when you are playing on pitches like these, you need to find your method of scoring runs. As I said, different individuals are part of these teams and they will have different methods of scoring runs. Find your own methods of doing this. We are not going to look into what one individual is doing, but rather what the entire team is doing. This is an important series for us, a big one, and that's my thought on KL,” Rohit concluded.