KL Rahul has all the backing of team management, says India head coach Rahul Dravid

Adelaide, November 1: KL Rahul has gone through struggles in India’s first three matches of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 so far and has come under scrutiny in the recent days.

However, head coach Rahul Dravid said the team management has full faith in the India opener and expressed confidence that he will come good sooner than later.

Rahul so far has scored 22 runs in the T20 World Cup so far from three matches.

“I think he is a fantastic player, he has a proven track record. I think he has been batting superbly. These things can happen in T20Is, it has not been that easy for top-order batters.

“This tournament has been challenging, I think he was brilliant in the practice games against the likes of Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc. He got 60 or 70. I am hoping that it all clicks together in the next few games,” said Dravid in the pre-match press conference.

“We know his quality and ability, he is very well suited for these conditions. He has got a good all-round game and he has a very good back foot game which is required in these conditions. We are happy with the way he has been hitting it,” said Dravid.

Dravid said the team management is having a lot of conversation with Rahul in the dressing room.

“We have a lot of conversations with players, it is hard to reveal exact details. Rest assured, both in words and in action, over the last year, he knows he has our support.

There has been a lot of clarity on what our side is going to be in this tournament and we have not wavered from that. We play a lot of cricket, you might see different players playing in different situations.

There have been injuries and including him, he has had phases where he has been injured. I think it has been great with captain Rohit Sharma that he has shown faith and belief in players,” said Dravid.

Underlining his point, Dravid said: “We do not focus on what is being said on the outside. We have certain ideas in mind and we have belief in players. We understand people will go through ups and downs. Everyone has our backing and they are here, because we know they have quality.

“In these conditions, we can afford him a little bit of time. As I said, we completely back him, we have no concerns. We know that when he gets going, I know the impact he can make,” Dravid added.