Irrespective of how a great a modern-day batsman one is, a comparison with Rahul Dravid is considered a big deal. Dravid, one of India’s greatest batsmen of all time, had a stellar India career filled with numerous batting accomplishments, but it was his demeanour that people still remember Dravid for. The way he conducted himself on and off the field, being a team person, willing to do whatever the team required him to, made Dravid one of the most respected cricketers.
Hence, in today’s era, when someone feels a player reminds him of the great Dravid, the statement automatically garners attention. For Mohammad Kaif, that batsman is none other than KL Rahul. The former India batsman’s assessment stems from the fact that like Dravid, Rahul is always ready to do whatever it is that the team requires him to, including shuffling up and down the batting order and keep wickets for the team.
“KL Rahul reminds me of Rahul Dravid. KL Rahul is ready to do anything, it shows that he is a team-player. If you play me at No.5, then I will do that role for the team,” Kaif said on the post-match show on the Sony Sports Network. “I will keep if you ask me to do that. Here you want me to open, I will do that as well. As a captain or team management, you are on the lookout for players like KL Rahul who is ready to lay down his life for the team. There are very few players who come like him.”
On Friday, against Australia in the first T20I in Canberra, Rahul played a vital knock, scoring 51 off 40 balls. He brought up a half-century off 37 balls even as the rest of the top order around him crumbled. While a 40-ball 51 isn’t the quickest innings in T20 cricket, Kaif was impressed with Rahul’s strike rate.
“He played fast at the start but had to slow down when the wickets were falling. And he did not get the strike as well. Then once you get the strike, you are confused if you should play the big shot or take singles because you are losing out on overs,” he said
“I feel it was a perfect innings. He started very well and later we do expect that he scores 80-90 runs but he got out. But overall, it was a very good innings because a batsman wants to bat based on the situation. And it is not that he cannot play the big shots. Whenever he wants, he can play the big shots and can also score 20 runs in an over, but he did not change the gear intentionally because he felt that the wickets were falling and he wanted to play till the end.”
