Mumbai, March 17 – Senior Indian striker Mohammad Shami was delighted on Friday by his team-mate and keeper-hitter KL Rahul as he played a fine innings under pressure and said the team did not lose the ball because of him. Troubled and stressed by a recent slimming patch.
Shami said that as players, their first priority is to play well and contribute to the team’s victory. He was delighted that Rahul was available for Friday’s first ODI against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium.
Rahul scored an excellent unbeaten 75 and 108 in his sixth consecutive wicket tie with Ravindra Jadeja (45 not out) as India recovered from 83/5 to chase a 189-run target and Leading 1-0 by five wickets in the three-match series.
Shami was at the head of India’s brilliant counter-attack as he produced a brilliant second spell to take three wickets – during which he struck twice on his maiden wicket as he sacked for six off six wickets. 3-17 wins.
Rahul has been playing poorly of late, especially in red ball games, and has lost his Test cricket vice-captainship. He is also under pressure as an opener thanks to the presence of youngster Shubman Gill, who scored a double hundred against New Zealand in India’s last ODI mission earlier this year, and left-handed batsman Ishan Kishan, who is also like him. goalkeeper.
Questions were raised about his place in the team but Rahul quelled his critics with a brilliant effort in the first ODI.
Midfield batting, a role in which he has had success over the past few years, Rahul showed steely will and controlled the innings well, playing normal cricket batting, Not like Australia’s half-bassman who dies while trying to score a quick run.
Shami said Rahul was not under pressure because of his position in the team as he had played many good innings for the team in the past. “We talk a lot about the pressure, the players being out of form or coming back to form, but the player always tries to play well and give his team a good start.
“He’s had a lot of good games in the past. Sometimes luck is against you, or if you try to do something, it doesn’t go well,” Shami said in Friday’s postmatch news conference.
Earlier, in the second ODI against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in January 2023, India’s Kolkata chased 86/4 to 216 and the situation was in jeopardy.
Rahul then stepped up under the pressure to go on a 64-match unbeaten run and lead India across the line. In the 64 games he has not featured in Kolkata, Rahul has struck 60 penalties and struck six sixes while taking 34 singles and three twos. Something similar happened in Mumbai today, ‘Rahul showed why he is India’s fifth most reliable batsman in ODIs.
Shami added that the pressure on Rahul was because of the circumstances in which he went to bat. “The pressure was there for sure. We lost so many wickets so quickly but the way he’s rebuilding, it’s nice to see one of our players running in a pressure situation,” he said.
–IANS
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