T20 World Cup: KL Rahul shuts strike rate debate, smashes 57 off 33 balls in warm-up match versus Australia

India’s top order batter KL Rahul struck a 27-ball 50 against Australia in India’s first warm-up match for the T20 World Cup in Brisbane. Rahul, the under-fire batter in the T20 format due to his propensity of accumulating runs with a somewhat slower strike rate, walked out with aggressive intent and managed to middle ball from the very start of the innings.

While Rohit remained stranded on the other side of the field, Rahul played the majority of the powerplay balls and scored runs at a rapid pace.

Rahul batted well against Australia’s short ball strategy before unleashing his massive shot as the Mitchell Starc-led bowling attack switched to full length. 

50 of KL Rahul

Well played 

Credit @FoxCricket#INDvAUS#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/G9ZCfjdy28
— Honey Ansari (@pakcrichd) October 17, 2022

Rahul’s strokes were all over the place, and he looked at ease with the extra bounce in Gabba. He was out when attempting to pull Glenn Maxwell for a six, giving Ashton Agar a catch straight down the throat at deep-mid wicket.

Rahul’s intent is critical for Rohit Sharma and his team, since the team has been loud about aggressive intent at the top of the order. India started the day with KL and Rohit Sharma. KL was the first to go when India were at 78 in the eighth over of the match. The squad lost a flurry of wickets in the middle overs of the match, but kept afloat thanks to the aggressive batting of Suryakumar Yadav, India’s top batsman in 2022.

After the end of 20 overs India finised at 186 for 7.

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