KL Rahul has been the standout wicketkeeper-batter in the Indian Premier League (IPL) thus far and is a contender for a spot in the national T20 team, reckons former South Africa and Mumbai Indians’ head coach Mark Boucher.
Rahul, who is not part of India’s T20 setup, has made 200 runs in four games at a stellar average of 66.66 and strike rate of 163.93 while batting in the middle-order for his new franchise Delhi Capitals.
“If you look at IPL — I am not talking about MS Dhoni here as we are talking about the future — one player who has been sound with his ‘keeping and (has) batted ready well is KL Rahul,” Boucher, a JioStar expert, said in a selection media interaction on Tuesday.
“He has played some fantastic innings. He made a comment the other night I could relate to. He said when he keeps, he picks up a lot of information that he can use in his batting. He would be the standout keep batter in the IPL.”
“Dhruv Jurel also has good hands, Rishabh Pant is improving all the time, he kept well last night. You are guys are in India blessed with a lot of options,” said the 48 year old who played 147 Tests, 295 ODIs and 25 T20s for the Proteas.
For someone who was with Mumbai Indians as recent as last year, Boucher is not concerned about Rohit’s lack of runs in the IPL but said fatigue could be a factor behind his lean run.
“I am not too sure where he is at the moment (mindset), from a fatigue perspective. He has played a lot of cricket. So, sometimes as a coach, the only thing you can do is you can sort of look at the player, have a conversation with him and say to him, how can you challenge yourself?
“Sometimes it’s not about you giving advice to a player, it’s just asking one or two questions of him. Players always, sort of, they do not like to be challenged, but sometimes they like to challenge themselves as well. So, a guy like Rohit, he’s going to come good as well. He’s going to come good because he’s such a good player,” said Boucher.
The IPL is into its fourth week and Boucher has been left impressed with rookies like Punjab Kings opener Priyansh Arya and LSG spinner Digvesh Rathi.
“Arya, the innings (103 off 42 balls against CSK) that he played the other night, that was something special. I’m not only talking about the shot selection that he had, the way that he took the game on despite wickets falling at the other end,” Boucher said.
“For a youngster who hasn’t played much first class cricket, technically he’s very good and he’s very responsive and instinctive on where he’s hitting the ball. That’s going to stand him in good stead in the future,” he added.
On Rathi, the former player said, “I have really enjoyed Rathi as well from LSG. He’s come onto the scene, people would have thought that Ravi Bishnoi would be the first spinner for LSG and he’s sort of taken on that role and he quite enjoys it as well. He has been quite aggressive and kept the match referees busy (with his notebook celebrations).”
