KL Rahul must know better than to open old wounds. Indians have somewhat recovered from the loss to Australia in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. Rahul should have realised that it took a lot of us a longtime to get over the disappointment of the loss. It is alright to talk about the loss so that things that went wrong could be correct the next time but to talk in the sense that if only he had stayed at the wicket, he could have changed the course of the game itself was rubbish to the core.
“The World Cup final against Australia, I was stuck in the moment, whether to take down (Mitchell) Starc or just play him as it was reversing, bowling in tough angle – in that confusion, I ended up nicking it – if I could have played till the end, it could have been 30-plus runs & probably World Cup in our hands – that is what I regret.”. Rahul said.
About the game
Now, Rahul played 106 deliveries and scored 66 runs. At no stage in that game did he look to play attacking cricket. He infact, let the Australians into the game with his mindless batting. Rahul just stood at the pitch without trying to score runs. He must realise that cricket is a simple game of runs and wickets. At the end of the day, the team with the most runs wins the game. This was exactly how Rahul bats whenever he opens in any format. Down the order in white ball cricket, his batting and numbers improved but unfortunately for the nation, on that night, the old Rahul resurfaced at the most inopportune moment.
For a very large part of the Indian innings, runs were hard to come by. Rahul, Jadeja, Surya are all guilty of playing out dot balls after dot balls. The game was lost right there. Rahul comment of an additional 30 runs, India could have lifted the cup is rubbish. You had Head at one end who was batting solidly. The game was finished in the 43rd over. Another 30 runs would not have mattered at all. With enough batting to come, Australia may have needed another 2-3 overs to knock off the remaining runs. This is another reason why Rahul should never be the captain. He does not think and a non-thinking player cannot be a good captain.
About his learning
“The things that I learned (at RCB) in those two months–I mean, the amount of time it would have taken me to be the player by just playing Ranji Trophy would have probably taken 7-8 seasons. During those two months in the IPL, I gained so much knowledge and experience and everything was fast-forwarded,” he added.
What he has revealed here must come as a shock for the BCCI. Rahul says that it needed only 2 months, I repeat only 2 months to learn about the game that would have taken him 8 years by playing in Ranji Trophy. Here, what he actually means is that the standard of Ranji Trophy is abysmal. That is a direct indictment towards the BCCI who has kept the premier first class competition that is supposed to produce players of international quality, extremely poor.
If one of the leading player, who captained the side not that long ago says that all he needed was 2 months to learn about the game that would have taken him 8 years, the whole concept of Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and kinds of trophies are virtually waste of time, money and energy.
Wrapping up Rahul opening old wounds
In a short interview, Rahul has revealed things that were previously unknown. It is better for him and for the nation if he remains quiet about the final loss. He must understand that his batting was rubbish and so were Jadeja and Surya.
Other blogs about Rahul
https://icricketcritique.com/lokesh-rahul-is-he-required-for-tests/
https://icricketcritique.com/what-is-eating-lokesh-rahul/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-venkatesh-prasad-rahul-spat/