Sunil Gavaskar mentioned former Indian cricket team opener Murali Vijay while praising KL Rahul for his brilliant show on Day 4 of the third Test match against Australia in Brisbane on Tuesday, Rahul showed good off-side judgement to play against the Australia pacers and his 84-run knock left both experts and fans impressed. Rahul, who has scored 231 runs in 5 innings, has been a top performer for India with the bat and Gavaskar was all praise for his technique and how he negotiated Australia’s pace threat.
“Except for the first ball today, where he slightly followed the delivery, his judgment outside off-stump was fantastic,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“KL Rahul left deliveries very close to the off-stump so consistently that it reminded me of Marnus Labuschagne yesterday and, before him, Murali Vijay, who also had exceptional off-side judgment.”
Gavaskar also pointed out how Rahul’s ability to play the ball late helped him in building his innings on the tricky Brisbane pitch and it also helped him a lot against the swinging deliveries.
“If you play the ball further forward, you risk edging it to slips. Rahul’s ability to play late and leave balls at the last moment was commendable. It’s a level of patience and skill that stood out in this innings,” Gavaskar explained.
Meanwhile, Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood is likely to miss the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India due to a right calf strain that he sustained during the ongoing third Test at the Gabba, Cricket Australia said on Tuesday.
The niggle has also ruled Hazlewood out of the Brisbane Test, weakening Australia’s bowling attack.
“Josh Hazlewood has sustained a right side calf strain which will prevent him from playing any further part in the Test match against India in Brisbane,” Cricket Australia said in an official statement.
“He is likely to miss the remainder of the Test series.”
On Tuesday, the New South Wales player bowled just one over before walking out of the field following a discussion with captain Pat Cummins, senior cricketer Steven Smith and team physio Nick Jones. Hazlewood later underwent scans to ascertain the severity of the injury.
(With PTI inputs)
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