England’s veteran spinner Graeme Swann backed opener KL Rahul to come good at the Adelaide Oval against Bangladesh and called him a potential superstar for India if they were to make the final of the T20 World Cup. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is at the business stage of the tournament and teams are going into overdrive to showcase their best performance and make a place for themselves in the next phase.
KL Rahul, who is yet to get his World Cup campaign off to a flyer, will be looking to change that when India take on Bangladesh in their group-stage match on November 2. The conditions at Adelaide are suitable for batting, making it an ideal venue for Rahul to come back into form. Another player who will be licking his lips at the sight of the pitch at Adelaide is Virat Kohli, who has a great record at this venue.
Speaking exclusively on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’, Graeme Swann talked about KL Rahul’s form and whether there is anything holding him back from performing at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, “I don’t think there is, I think he’s just out of form, he looked like he was getting back in form at Perth when he smashed one out of the ground but then he ran one down to slip. So, it’s just a batsman who’s trying to play the ball too late at the minute. He needs to get on the front foot more, hit the ball and really watch the ball hard. You definitely can’t drop him, KL Rahul is a potential superstar in the World Cup final. I’d stick with him as Adelaide’s a beautiful batting wicket, so make hay,” he said. Graeme Swann further spoke about how Virat Kohli would be eyeing the conditions at Adelaide as they are very suitable for batting and how he may use the dimensions of the grounds to his advantage, “Well I could only imagine how it makes you feel as a batsman because I never quite had that. But, I know Adelaide as a bowler. You get intimidated, it’s such a good batting wicket.”
“The square boundaries are very small, smaller than a lot of Indian grounds, tiny, but the straight boundaries are enormous. So, you desperately try and bowl straight to get the guys hit you down the ground. But as soon as people eye on those square boundaries, and Virat is a master doing that, his cover drive and then flicking and pulling, it’s a horrible place to bowl and I think Virat is going to lick his lips and probably score some big runs,” he said.
