Dubai, Sep 8 (IANS): Former India cricketer Rohan Gavaskar believes that the side's middle-order is currently looking a little fragile. Gavaskar's comments come after India's inability to reach the final of Asia Cup 2022 have raised questions over the ability of the side to perform as per expectations in Men's T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November.
Against Sri Lanka at Dubai on Tuesday, apart from captain Rohit Sharma's 41-ball 72 and Suryakumar Yadav making a 29-ball 34, no other Indian batter stepped up in the scoring department. Eventually, Sri Lanka chased down 174 runs with a ball to spare and Rohit rued falling 10-15 runs short, which India weren't able to get due to lack of runs from middle order.
"That (middle order) is a headache. That is something that the Indian team will have to think about and try to find out the right combination over there. Look, that's an area where we have seen a lot of experts, fans and knowledgeable people on cricket talk about and say something has to be done over there."
"The middle order is looking a little fragile at the moment and we need a bit more consistency come out of that slot (3-4-5-6). We need a little bit more consistency coming out of those areas. So, that's something that the Indian team management will be thinking about and looking to improve on," said Gavaskar on 'Sports Over The Top' show on Sports18.
Gavaskar further felt that India needs to persist with opener KL Rahul despite him not showing signs of his best self in the tournament. A slew of injuries and Covid-19 kept him out of the side for a long time this year. In the last few years, Rahul has copped criticism for making runs slowly in T20Is, a script which has panned out in Asia Cup 2022.
"We have seen KL Rahul being an absolute beast in T20 cricket when he comes out, plays freely and there is no one better than him in my opinion. You know, when he's got that zone where he's like just free striking the ball at the strike rate of 140-150, there's no one better than him."
"And when you've got a player of that ability, I think sometimes you need to persist with him. Look, let's not forget that KL Rahul is coming back from an injury layoff, so it might take a little bit of time to get back in the groove. When he's striking at 140-150-160 mark, he's an absolute monster, absolute beast," concluded Gavaskar.