Asia Cup 2022: KL Rahul gets criticised for sluggish batting against minnows Hong Kong

It was his T20I career’s slowest knock that came from Rahul’s bat as he scored at a strike rate of 92. The right-handed batter from Karnataka – who was dismissed for a golden duck in the previous game against Pakistan – struggled with the bat from the moment he stepped into the middle to open the batting for India.

The vice-captain opened the innings for the Men In Blue along with skipper Rohit Sharma after being put in to bat first by Hong Kong skipper Nizakat Khan.

The right-handed batter never looked in his elements in the innings as Hong Kong’s new ball bowlers didn’t bowl with much pace on a surface where the ball was gripping.

The 30-year-old, who is coming back from an injury layoff, looked out of sorts, even against the inexperienced rivals, and kept consuming the balls. Of his two sixes, one came off a free-hit as he struggled to break free, allowing pressure to mount on his skipper who was the first to get out, mistiming a slower one from Ayush Shukla.

Under pressure to break free, Rahul eventually perished, sweeping a delivery outside off to get an edge behind the stumps. He forged a partnership of 38 runs with Rohit, and later shared a stand of 56 runs with Virat Kohli but never looked in his elements.

Rahul received criticism for his slow batting and former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad was amongst those who expressed his displeasure over his performance.

Prasad took to his Twitter handle and wrote, “Is there something in the pitch that is not visible? Simply can’t fathom this approach, especially from KL Rahul. #IndvsHkg.”

“It was an ordeal that’s just ended for KL Rahul – a real ordeal,” wrote senior journalist Vikrant Gupta.

“What on earth is driving KL Rahul to bat with this “approach” when India have been so vocal about aggressive intent,” wrote another Twitter user.

“KL Rahul has potential to play like Buttler but chooses to play like Kane,” tweeted another fan.