"It is a good sign as you don't want to be dependent on just 2 or 3 players" - Gautam Gambhir lauds KL Rahul's knock in World Cup clash vs Australia

Gautam Gambhir believes KL Rahul's match-winning knock under pressure will hold India in good stead going forward in the 2023 World Cup.

Australia set the Men in Blue a 200-run target in the tournament opener for the two sides in Chennai on Sunday, October 8. They then reduced Rohit Sharma and Co. to 2/3 before Rahul and Virat Kohli's 165-run fourth-wicket partnership helped the hosts register a six-wicket win with 52 deliveries to spare.

On the Star Sports show 'Follow the Blues', Gambhir was asked about his thoughts on Rahul's performance, to which he responded:

"This is a good thing because you want your experienced batters to be able to handle pressure and along with that also score runs and take your team to a win. So it is a good sign as you don't want to be dependent on just two or three players. Since KL Rahul has returned, he has been in exceptional form and it is even better that he has handled pressure extremely well."

The former Indian opener was also asked about Kohli's performance, to which he replied:

"Both have experience. If you talk about Virat Kohli, he has a lot of experience and you expect from your seniormost player that when he comes to bat under pressure, he takes the team out of the pressure situation and that is what Virat Kohli did."

Rahul scored an unbeaten 97 off 115 deliveries, a knock studded with eight fours and two sixes. Kohli played an 85-run knock off 116 balls with the help of six boundaries.

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"All 3 spinners bowled exceptionally well" - Gautam Gambhir on India's bowling

Ravindra Jadeja was India's most successful bowler. [P/C: AP]

Gautam Gambhir heaped praise on India's bowling performance when asked about the same, saying:

"Exceptional bowling performance, the sort of start Jasprit Bumrah gave with his bowling, and then after that Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Ashwin. I believe this was the reason why Ashwin was played, all three spinners bowled exceptionally well."

Gambhir was further queried about how Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer could have handled the Aussie pace attack differently, to which he responded:

"It could be nerves at times. It was the first World Cup match and the ball was also swinging and seaming a little. So I believe it could be early nerves but the good thing is that your nerves will be settled in the next match."

Kishan, Rohit and Shreyas were all dismissed for ducks in the first two overs of India's run chase. While Kishan and Shreyas threw away their wickets while playing extravagant drives, the Indian skipper was trapped in front of the wickets by an excellent delivery from Josh Hazlewood.