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Irfan Pathan has hit out at critics who questioned KL Rahul's place in the Indian ODI team ahead of the series against England.
Rahul scored 108 runs off just 114 deliveries in the second ODI to help Team India post a competitive total of 336/6 after they were in a spot of bother at 37/2 at one stage.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Irfan Pathan lauded KL Rahul for answering his critics in the best possible manner.
"It is unfortunate there were so many questions raised but if you see his last ten innings in ODIs before this series, he had an average above 60. Despite that people were trying to put him under pressure but his batting was praiseworthy, in the last match he started slowly but watching his century today gave a lot of happiness," said Pathan.
The former Indian all-rounder pointed out that KL Rahul is among the few batsmen who can hold their own in any position in the batting order.
"He is a fabulous cricketer. He has an amazing technique. Everyone does not have the capability to score runs consistently whether he is opening or playing in the middle order, KL Rahul can do that because he is technically sound," observed Pathan.
KL Rahul is India's highest run-getter in ODIs since the start of 2020. The classy right-hander has amassed 613 runs at an excellent average of 68.11 in the 11 matches he has played in the said period.
"It is beyond understanding" - Parthiv Patel on talks about KL Rahul's selection
Parthiv Patel highlighted KL Rahul's excellent record in ODIs when asked by Aakash Chopra about the surprising discussions regarding the right-handed batsman's selection in the Indian team.
"It is beyond understanding. Every time we make the same mistake that if a player has not scored runs in one format, we consider it in the other format as well but we forget that in the ODI format he has scored the most runs for India," said Patel.
The former India wicket-keeper also had a word of praise for the team management for sticking with KL Rahul despite his indifferent form in the preceding T20I series against England.
"The team management took a very good decision that they didn't drop him because very often we go with the wind that if someone has done well in Tests or T20s, you play him in the ODIs as well and forget the performance of the player who has done well in that format. So it was great to see such a thing did not happen with KL Rahul and he scored a century to show how capable a batsman he is," concluded Patel.
KL Rahul came into the ODI series against England after scoring just 15 runs in four T20Is against the same opposition. However, he seems to have regained his lost touch with an unbeaten 62 and a century in the two matches of the ongoing series.
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