Latest news with #KL
India Gazette
17 hours ago
- Sport
- India Gazette
KL Rahul mid-series form decline is real: Why India's now senior-most batter needs to be at his best in England
New Delhi [India], June 9 (ANI): The upcoming tour of England shapes up to be one of the most important overseas outings for Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul in his Test career. Often labelled as 'inconsistent', the veteran batter will have to deliver one of the greatest performances of his career to help a new-look Indian team secure a series win under the captaincy of Shubman Gill. KL has had a very up-and-down Test career so far, scoring 3,257 runs in 58 Tests at an average of 33.57, with eight centuries and 17 fifties with the best score of 199 in 101 innings. Over the years, he has batted in a variety of positions in Tests from first to sixth spot, which has interfered with his consistency. Plenty of fans and experts have accused KL of losing his form as a Test series progresses after starting off well. He has started off his tour to England really well, with a century and fifty each for India A against England Lions in the second unofficial Test. While such performances must give fans encouragement, there is still a little air of pessimism on social media about how KL would fare in the five-match series marking the start of India's ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 campaign. For instance, take up the latest Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia from late 2024 to January 2025. While he started off with a solid 77 in a win at Perth, he could make only two more 30-plus scores later in the series, 37 during the second Adelaide Test and 84 at the third Brisbane Test. Across the last two Tests, he batted four times and his highest score was 24. He finished the series with 276 runs in 10 innings at an average of 30.66, with two fifties, in a series that promised so much owing to KL's technical prowess, but delivered so little. This has been a trend for KL in his Test career, especially while he plays away from home. In India, there is no drop-off in his performances, having made 199 in the fifth Test against England in 2016. But when away from home, he is mostly on par with the top seven batters (collectively) during the first two Tests of a series, before averaging over 10 runs lesser than rest in other matches. As per away from home, during first Tests, he averages 37.0, as compared to 29.2 among the top seven batters as a while. In the second Tests, he averages 30.2, as compared to the 31.5 average of the top seven batters in a small decline. He faces a steep decline in the third and fourth Tests of the away series, with averages of 22.8 and 26.8 as compared to 31.5 and 36.1 of the top seven batters. While KL enjoys an edge with an average of 50.8 in four innings across the fifth Tests in comparison to top-seven average of 30.7, it is largely due to his knock of 149 against England in 2018. In other three innings during fifth Tests away from home, he has scored just 54 runs at an average of 18.0. This trend stays more or less the same during a three-match series away from home. In overseas first Tests, he has scored 390 runs in 10 innings at an average of 39.0, as compared to a top-seven batters' average of 31.2. In the rest of two Tests, his average tapers off massively. In second Tests away from home, he has made 278 runs in 12 innings at an average of 23.2, which is pretty low in comparison top-seven batters average of 30.8. In the third Tests, it falls down to 18.1 as compared to the top-seven batters average of 26.0, as he has made just 127 runs in seven innings. After Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's recent retirements and Team India seemingly having moved on from middle-order veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, KL is undoubtedly the senior-most batter on the tour. It is now-or-never for the superstar batter to produce an all-timer series that justifies his talent. The five-test tour of England, starting June 20 at Leeds and lasting until August 2025, is set to be a heavy one for fans and players alike. With senior stars Rohit and Virat having retired from the longest format of the game, the onus lies on the Shubman Gill-led new-look Indian side to prove themselves away from home in tough English conditions and ensure that Indian cricket is safe. The series will be held from June to August 2025, with matches scheduled at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord's and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester. India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Shubman Gill's 'Sehwag-like game' a chink in the armour as Ponting warns of fresh 'challenge': He needs to bat at...
Despite comparing India's new Test captain Shubman Gill, to the legendary Virender Sehwag, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting outlined that a similar approach is likely to meet a fresh challenge in the upcoming tour of England, and hence has work to do on his Test match batting. The Aussie great also called for a change in his batting position, considering the added responsibility of captaincy. Speaking to PTI, Ponting addressed Gill's much-criticised defensive technique, which has cost the youngster multiple times in his short career thus far. And although he sees no technical flaw in his approach, he reckoned Gill has to work on the mental side of Test match batting. "It's a bit both. There are some of the great Test players that haven't had great defensive games, and (Virender) Sehwag is probably a great example of that. But if you're in control of your stroke-play, you don't have to worry too much about your defence. I mean, obviously it's (defence) a big part of Test match cricket, but I think it's more his mental application," he explained. "(But) I think sometimes you might just get a little bit either ahead of himself or a little bit lazy in the middle of a test match innings. You can't afford to do that. You've got to be 100 per cent committed to every ball that you face through six or seven hours of every day...I think that's the challenge for Shubman." The biggest question since Kohli's departure from Test cricket last month was who would replace the former India captain at No. 4 in the line-up. Ponting backed Gill for the role, at least for the initial phase of his leadership tenure, which will begin on June 20 in Leeds with the five-match Test series against the Ben Stokes-led side. "...the reason I did that was if they go with (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and if Sai Sudarshan is the other opener, they need someone a bit more experienced at number three. So that could be either, KL at three, or that could be a Karun Nair at three and Shubman at four. "...once you grow into it, then you can move yourself back up to that number three spot," said one of the finest batters of his generation.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Ricky Ponting bats for captain Shubman Gill to bat at No.4 spot for India in upcoming England Test tour
With Virat Kohli's retirement, the No.4 spot in the Indian Test team has a lot of speculations going around it on who could take the place of the star India batter. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that captain Shubman Gill will be the ideal candidate for the role due to the added responsibility of captaincy in the upcoming England tour. '…the reason I did that was if they go with (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and if Sai Sudarshan is the other opener, they need someone a bit more experienced at number three. So that could be either, KL at three, or that could be a Karun Nair at three and Shubman at four….once you grow into it, then you can move yourself back up to that number three spot,' Ponting said. Last month, Gill, who played his first Test for India just five years ago, was selected as the candidate to lead the team into a new era after he was named the captain for the five-match series in England, starting June 20. In what ultimately proved to be a formality, Gill was named as Rohit Sharma's successor following a meeting of the selection committee at the cricket board headquarters at Wankhede Stadium. Gill will be India's 37th Test captain. His deputy for the England tour will be Rishabh Pant. Rohit announced his retirement from red-ball cricket last month. Weeks later, former captain Kohli, too, hung his whites. Both veterans have chosen to continue playing the 50-over format. Meanwhile, Ponting also said that it was the right time for Sai Sudharsan to make his debut in the Test team and open with Yashasvi Jaiswal against England. 'I think the time's right for Sudarshan to come into the side, to be honest. There's a bit of a regeneration that's going to happen around this Indian team now, obviously with Rohit and Virat not there,' he said. 'Every team goes through that…seems to me like Sudarshan's ready. Lots of first class runs, his IPL form this year has been probably better than anybody else,' he pointed out about the Orange Cap winner of the just-concluded season. Technically, seems fine. And, you know, KL down in the middle order somewhere probably just gives that bit more stability,' he added.
India Gazette
5 days ago
- Sport
- India Gazette
KL Rahul in red-ball arena: Revisiting his performance in English conditions
New Delhi [India] June 5 (ANI): Indian batter KL Rahul has joined the India-A squad for the 2nd unofficial test against the England Lions squad starting from June 6. KL is also part of the Indian team that will kick off India's World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-2027 cycle against England on June 20. KL Rahul has played 9 Test matches in England, scoring 614 runs at an average of 34.11, with a highest score of 149. He has 2 centuries and 1 half-century in those matches. In 2018, India's tour of England saw KL score 299 runs in ten innings, including a century. His average in that series was under 30, and his strike rate was 66.4. In 2021, India's tour of England saw KL increase his stats. He scored 315 runs in eight innings with an average of 39.4, including a century and a fifty each. In 58 test matches, KL has made 3257 at an average KL has played 58 test matches so far in his career. The batter has made 3257 at an average of 33.57 and a strike rate of 52.80. His best test score (199) also came against England back in 2016. He has played 13 home and away test matches against England, in which the batter has made 955 at an average of 39.79. India tour of England will take place from June to August 2025, with matches at Headingley (Leeds), Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord's (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), and The Oval (London). While KL has reached England, Shubman Gill, India's new test skipper, was appointed Rohit's successor in the format. He was in contention to compete in the second unofficial Test for India A against the England Lions in Northampton from June 6. However, he won't take part, considering he will depart with the remaining squad for England on Thursday. India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)
The Star
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
3,000 cyclists keep green mission in high gear at KL race
Tan (right) and Naquib (second from right) at the flag-off in Kuala Lumpur. A RECORD 3,000 cyclists converged in the capital city for the eighth edition of OCBC Cycle Kuala Lumpur. Spanning 25km of closed roads, the event had the longest non-overlapping stretch since the series began. The race with the theme 'Let's Go Cycle', was flagged off at 6.45am by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) Culture, Arts, Tourism and Sports Department director Naquib Hamdan. Alongside him were OCBC Bank chief executive officer Tan Chor Sen and Multigreen Events chief executive officer Nezzam Malek. OCBC Al-Amin Bank chief executive officer Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik joined 400 of his OCBC colleagues in the 50km category. Featuring participants from Malaysia and 30 other countries, the race saw the more serious cyclists riding through two 25km loops. The leisure cyclists opted for a single 25km loop, children took part on their own push bikes while team cyclists took on The KL Mayor's Ride. Syed Abdull Aziz (in white) raring to take on the 50km challenge. This year's route had new twists and turns that included stretches along Jalan Conlay and Jalan Kia Peng. Tan said it was gratifying to see families, including children enjoying themselves in the push bike category. He thanked the authorities, including police and DBKL for their support. 'It is no mean feat to pull off something like this as it involves fully closed roads in the city centre. 'As part of our quest to become more sustainable in our endeavours, OCBC Cycle KL 2025 sought to be even more environmentally friendly,' he said, adding that limited or no plastic packaging or paper flyers were used for the event. Instead, event information was displayed on large boards as well as the OCBC Cycle KL website. Also absent was the usual bubble wrap for medals, which were instead placed around the winners' necks or handed to them unwrapped. Recycling bins could be seen at strategic locations for collection of banana peel that were sent for composting. Nezzam said this year's level of participation was the highest to date. The race featured prizes for three adult bicycle types – mountain, road and folding bikes – for both men and women. All participants received a medal and digital certificate each, along with event sponsor goodies.
