Ashwin dismissed any speculation that KL Rahul had made a triumphant return to the 50-over format after his match-winning half-century in the first ODI against Australia in Mumbai. The cricketer noted that Rahul hadn’t gone anywhere and asked fans to give players accurate assessments before making baseless claims or criticism. He stated on his YouTube channel about KL Rahul:
“Immediately after his [KL Rahul’s] knock, people are like, “KL Rahul is back!” KL Rahul didn’t go anywhere when it comes to ODI cricket to be back. He didn’t go anywhere for us to put him down one day and then suddenly celebrate him the other day. We shouldn’t do that.
“In the sporting world, we should know how to assess a player’s performance correctly. If we don’t do that, we will back all the wrong people and will play all the wrong people.”
The spin maestro pointed out that people often criticize cricketers too quickly if they have a couple of underwhelming outings. The cricketer from Tamil Nadu expressed his admiration for KL Rahul, hailing him as one of the best middle-order batters in the world of cricket.
“If the people we like do something good and get trending on Twitter, we will start celebrating them and worshipping them like anything,” he continued. “But if they are going through a bad patch, we will not appreciate or celebrate their value or the magnitude of what they are doing.
“KL Rahul is doing a very difficult role for India with ease. He has been a proper box office in ODIs. He has got phenomenal numbers batting at number five. Go and search if you can find anyone even close to him in terms of his numbers in ODI cricket.”
Rahul, who had been struggling with his performance lately, rescued India in the opening ODI match against Australia. He stayed on the crease until the end while scoring 75 runs, helping India reach their 189-run target with 5 wickets in hand after an initial collapse.
“Batting at No. 5 is a difficult role in ODIs” – Ashwin
Ash highlighted KL Rahul’s challenge in batting at the No.5 position in the ODI side. He stated that there is no other international batter able to establish themselves in this position.
“Sometimes, it is very funny, right? Consider everyone currently batting at No.5 in ODI cricket currently,” he elaborated. “There isn’t even one cricketer at the moment who bats at No.5 in ODIs and has made a mark for himself because it is a very tough position.
“Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni were the only two guys who batted mostly at No.5 in ODIs and made a mark for themselves. For Australia, it was Michael Bevan.”
