(Image Courtesy: Zee News)
Playing their 2nd T20I against Ireland, India took to the field on Friday looking to test their bench strength. KL Rahul replaced opener Shikhar Dhawan while Dinesh Karthik came in place of MS Dhoni. In the bowling department Siddharth Kaul and Umesh Yadav were roped in for Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Put into bat first, India scored a mammoth 213/4 with KL Rahul top scoring with 70 runs. His 36 ball knock comprised of 3 fours and 6 sixes.
Later India then bowled out Ireland for a mere 70 runs registering their biggest win in T20I by 143 runs. For a superb knock that lead India to this score KL Rahul was adjudged the man of the match.
He took to Twitter to express how delighted he was.
Ireland ✅
Great start to the season! Love the feeling of contributing to the Team’s Win!😊👑
#INDvsIRE #Grateful pic.twitter.com/Smj6kgkbJr— K L Rahul (@klrahul11) June 30, 2018
Having been a backup opener for India in the limited formats Rahul has posed a good but a new headache to the coaches and selectors.
Having had a stellar IPL and chipping in whenever given a chance, it is hard to leave out the Karnataka batsmen when it comes to team selection.
But when it comes down to the openers there is the already proven pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan who have made it their own slots. The middle order also is now dominated by the likes of Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik. Amidst these players Rahul will find it tough to make the cut.
For the upcoming ODI series in England it will be interesting to see where and how Kohli uses KL Rahul and gets the best out of him.
India Team For ODI Series:
Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.
Also Read:
India vs Ireland: 2nd T20I Review- Ruthless India clear Irish challenge with record victory
