‘We have to be aggressive’: KL Rahul

Ahead of two-match series against B’desh, stand-in skipper KL Rahul insists that in order to qualify for the WTC final, his depleted Indian side need to assess plans after every session

A spot in the World Test Championship final at stake, a depleted Indian team has no option but to play an aggressive brand of cricket against Bangladesh in the two-match series starting Wednesday, stand-in skipper KL Rahul said on Monday. The Indian team will be without three key players—Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and regular skipper Rohit Sharma —due to injuries. 

Having already lost the ODI series, the Indian team will need to win its next six Test matches (two in Bangladesh and four vs Australia at home) to remain in contention for a top-two spot in the World Test Championship points table. As of now, Indian team is placed fourth in the table with 52.08 percentage points while Australia (75 percentage points) and South Africa (60 percentage points) are placed first and second. Sri Lanka, with 64 percentage points, is third in the list. 

“There is a Test championship [final] qualification so we will also have to be aggressive. We know where we stand and what we need to do to qualify for the final,” said Rahul during a media conference after the unveiling of the trophy. “Each day, each session we will assess what is required for the team in that particular moment and give our best.” The season-ending World Test Championship will be held in June, 2023 at the Oval in London.

Also Read: Coach Rahul Dravid: We fully back KL Rahul

‘Won’t go with set mindset’

Flexibility in mindset is the order of the hour and a key recipe for success. “We won’t go in with any set mindset. Yes, there is a certain history of a venue, you look at the numbers and take some pointers from that. At least for us we will go there and try to be aggressive and brave, try and get a result. 

“The game is played over five days so it is important to break it down to smaller targets. In every session, the demands would be different but one thing is sure that you are going to see a lot of aggressive cricket from our side,” the skipper assured. A lot of this talk of aggressive intent has come watching England team’s radically different ultra-aggressive approach, which has caught the imagination of cricket fans.

‘Players doing their job’

And skipper Rahul doesn’t think English style of batsmanship characterises “recklessness.” “As cricketers, I don’t think it is reckless cricket. They have certain mindset, they thought about it, they back their players and the players are doing the job for the team, so it doesn’t matter how you have done it. Cricket is changing, there is no set way of how this game needs to be played,” the stylish opener said. Rahul in fact immensely enjoyed England’s 2-0 series win in Pakistan with a Test match still to go.

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