New Delhi: Former India coach Ravi Shastri said tweaking ‘front-foot’ technique has helped KL Rahul to be more productive with the bat against England, and hoped that the senior batter will continue at the top of his game for the ‘next three or four years’.
Rahul has so far scored 375 runs from three Tests with two hundreds and a fifty at an average of 62.50. He is the fourth-highest run-getter behind Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Jamie Smith.
“What I am seeing is a slight adjustment he’s made with his front foot, in his stance and while defending,” Shastri told ICC Review.
“It just opened up a bit, which allows his bat to come through cleanly. Even when he’s hitting it towards mid-wicket, it’s the full face of the blade,” he added.
Shastri said the new technique has also reduced the chances of Rahul getting bowled or leg before as it was the case in the past.
“He doesn’t need to close the face of the blade, and fall over and get into trouble like he used to in the past.
“He would get out leg before, would get out bowled, he would get across too far and then be out leg before as well,” he noted.
The ball has not seamed around a lot as it often does in England conditions, but Shastri said Rahul has the technical nous to tackle the moving deliveries as well.
“He is sound technically, and he has been as good as anyone. Especially, it’s not moved a lot in the series, but when it’s moved, he has had the game to look after that movement.”
The former Indian skipper hoped that Rahul would use his newfound strength to capitalise on his batting prime for the next few years.
“I think there was not one person in the world who denied his potential and said that Rahul was not talented. What annoyed people was that, with that kind of talent, he was not delivering. And in this series, you’re seeing the best of Rahul,” he said.
Shastri hoped Rahul could kick off an era of dominance with the bat from this point, and end up with an average close to 50.
“He’s at his prime. He has got to make these next three or four years count. And I see him getting a lot of hundreds because he’s playing a lot of cricket in India as well. So whatever that average is, he should be close to 50,” he added.
From 61 Tests so far, the 33-year-old has made 3632 runs, averaging 35.3, with 10 hundreds and 18 half-centuries.
PTI
