T20 World Cup 2022: “Sometimes you can go a little bit hard with the hands” - Danny Morrison reckons KL Rahul is trying to be overaggressive

Former New Zealand fast bowler Danny Morrison feels that KL Rahul is probably trying to hit the ball a bit too hard, leading to his early dismissals. He, however, backed the Indian opener to come good in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 matches.

Team India have won both of their Super 12 clashes so far in Group 2. They beat Pakistan by four wickets and followed it up with a 56-run win over the Netherlands. Rahul, though, was dismissed for single-figure scores in both games.

The Men in Blue will next take on South Africa in Perth on Sunday, October 30. While previewing the match, Morrison shared his views on Rahul’s poor form. He told Sportskeeda:

“When you try to be aggressive like that, sometimes you can go a little bit hard with the hands and try and thrash it too much. Partly, his role is to take some pressure off the captain. We know what a craftsman KL Rahul is. We have seen him for some time now.

"(He is) vastly experienced and such a key element opening the innings, whether for India or playing in the IPL. He is really only one innings away from unleashing what we saw in the IPL this season and what he is very capable of.”

Rahul was in good form in the warm-up matches played ahead of the World Cup. He scored 74 against Western Australia in Perth and 57 against Australia in Melbourne.

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“He’s showed his class” - Danny Morrison on Bhuvneshwar Kumar

In the build-up to the T20 World Cup, there were plenty of concerns over pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s form, particularly his tendency to concede too many runs at the death. But the experienced bowler has lifted his game under helpful conditions and has done a very good job so far.

While praising Bhuvneshwar, Morrison stated that he is impressed with the talent in the Indian bowling line-up. The 56-year-old said:

“Bhuvi’s performance shows his experience. Playing in the IPL bodes well for the rest of those guys. Mohammed Shami had COVID and was more of a reserve-type player, but Bumrah gets injured and can’t tour! Then you get Arshdeep (Singh) as well.

“Bhuvi helps lead the pack with Shami. He’s showed his class, swinging the ball, getting people out early. That’s key for India to go deep to the end of the tournament.”

Bhuvneshwar registered figures of 1/22 against Pakistan and 2/9 against the Netherlands in three overs, the first two of which were maidens.