Former India opener Gautam Gambhir is hopeful that KL Rahul can have a stellar IPL marketing campaign when the league resumes this weekend as he believes he has averaged over 50 within the final three seasons. Despite the perfect of the big-hitters have but to be seen.
Punjab Kings captain Rahul is operating at a mean of 66 with a strike fee of 136 after seven matches this 12 months. The IPL was suspended in May due to the COVID-19 instances in its bubble and can resume within the UAE on Sunday.
“We haven’t seen the perfect of KL Rahul. Yes, he has received runs however we nonetheless have not seen what he can obtain along with his batting,” Gambhir instructed Star Sports’ present Game Plan.
“You can have a season like Virat Kohli as soon as did. He is the type of participant in white-ball cricket the place he can rating 2-3 lots of in a season and on the identical time with an excellent strike fee.
The 29-year-old has scored 331 runs in seven matches this 12 months together with 4 half-centuries. He is second within the listing of high scorers of 2021 IPL.
Talking concerning the different groups, Gambhir mentioned that the situations in UAE shall be in favor of defending champions Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings will conflict within the first match of the season which resumed on Sunday.
“When you see situations in Chepauk or Delhi, they’re utterly completely different from what you discover at Wankhede. And, as I discussed, they’re going into situations which might be conducive to their quick bowling – guys like Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult,” Gambhir mentioned.
“There will be a forward swing, so they will be very dangerous,” he mentioned. Also, Mumbai needs the balls to swing and you’ve got high quality quick bowlers and that’s going to be a bonus for them.
“Also their batsmen, want the balls to hit the bat as well, people like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, all those guys who struggled in Chepauk because it was entertaining and twisted.”
Gambhir additionally felt that Mumbai Indians couldn’t tolerate a sluggish begin as they could must win 5 of their remaining seven matches to qualify for the play-offs.
Talking about India skipper Virat Kohli and his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate AB de Villiers, Gambhir mentioned that they’ll method the event with completely different challenges.
“There goes to be a problem for Virat and there’s going to be a giant problem for AB de Villiers in addition to he’ll come into the event with out taking part in any cricket.
“Virat Kohli will have to adjust really quickly as there will hardly be any time for him to get used to it.”
“From the five-Test series to the T20 format and AB as well, because these guys need to score runs if they get a chance to qualify for the playoffs first and then probably go on to win the title. “
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
