IND vs ENG: Michael Atherton Hits Out At KL Rahul, Compares India Batter’s Mindset With Virat Kohli
New Delhi: Former England captain Michael Atherton called KL Rahul the ‘biggest’ culprit for throwing his century away on Day 2 of the ongoing first Test match against England and stated Virat Kohli would have never done that. Atherton’s comments come after Rahul, who replaced Kohli at No.4 in the batting order, was dismissed for a well-made 86 while trying to go for a six against debutant Tom Hartley. Kohli, who was initially named in the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England, withdrew himself due to personal reasons.
In reply to England’s 246 in the first innings, India started Day 2 at 119/1 with Yashavi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill being the overnight batters. Jaiswal, who left at 76 on Day 1, could manage just four runs on the second day before giving away a simple return catch to Joe Root.
Coming at No.4, Rahul filled the void for Kohli, taking on the opposition bowlers very cautiously. But just as it looked like the right-hander would go on to score his ninth Test hundred, Rahul mistimed a Hartley delivery that went straight at the hands of Rehan Ahmed standing at deep midwicket.
“They (England) were fortunate that India’s top order were in a generous mood but the situation at the close was very bad even so, and could have been even worse,” Atherton wrote in his coloumn for The Times. “It is hard to imagine that Virat Kohli would have been as obliging as his team-mates were here, and the biggest culprit was his replacement at No 4, the stylish and gifted KL Rahul, who had a hundred for the taking before hammering a long-hop from Tom Hartley into the deep,” he added.
At the end of Day 2, India were at 421/7 with Ravindra Jadeja batting on 81 while Axar Patel is giving him company with an unbeaten 35. However, Atherton also questioned England skipper Ben Stokes tactics in not giving enough overs to Jack Leach, the most experienced among the visiting bowlers in the playing XI.
Leach under the leadership of Stokes, has grown in stature and confidence. But he was sparingly used. In total, Leach bowled 16 overs on the day in six spells with his longest being of four overs. “This clearly required some explanation, given the medical team were said to be happy with his bowling loads in training in the run-up to this series, with the obvious proviso (mine not theirs) of a lack of match practice, given England’s decision to train in Abu Dhabi rather than play competitive matches in India.”