Gautam Gambhir defends KL Rahul's form ahead of Indian T20 League, take sly dig at Venkatesh Prasad

Venkatesh Prasad, Gautam Gambhir, KL Rahul (Image Credit: Twitter)

Venkatesh Prasad was extremely critical of KL Rahul's inclusion in the Test team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. The former even called Rahul's inclusion as favoritism in the team as the latter was out of form. However, his mentor in the Lucknow team, Gautam Gambhir backed Rahul. Even though the latter was dropped from the team for the last two Tests, he played a match-winning in the first ODI.

Meanwhile, with only a few days left at the start of the 16th season, the former Kolkata skipper has once again backed Rahul. The two-time World Cup winner for India has said that batting form in international cricket and Indian T20 League is very different. Gambhir urged not to compare Rahul's number in the league and for India.

“What kind of pressure? Last time we (Lucknow) finished at No. 3 and it was a tough fight between Rajasthan and Lucknow. Obviously, only one team can lift the trophy. And Gujarat won the ITL, they played excellent cricket last season. And if you take a look at the performance of Lucknow in their debut season, they finished 3rd only because of the NRR. If you finish 2nd in ITL, you get 2 chances at the playoffs,” Gambhir told SportsTak.

“As far as KL Rahul is concerned, I don't think he is under any kind of pressure. International cricket and ITL are different from each other. If you don't perform in international cricket despite scoring 1000 runs in IPL, you will still have to deal with criticism. And that's international cricket for you. After all, only 15 players get a chance to play for India. In ITL, more than 150 players get selected. Thus, you should not compare these two (ITL and international cricket).” Gambhir added.

KL Rahul has four to five hundreds in the Indian T20 League: Gautam Gambhir

The left-hander, Gambhir also pointed out Rahul's centuries in the tournament's history. Last year, the latter scored two hundreds, both came against last placed, Mumbai.

“How Rahul has fared in the IPL, he has 4-5 centuries in the tournament. And you are talking about a player who has already slammed 4-5 centuries. Even last season he scored a century against Mumbai Indians. We have so many people here. Sometimes ex-cricketers need some masala to remain active. So that's why you criticise people. According to me, the kind of player KL is, he won't be under any kind of pressure. You can't win a tournament with one player. The 25 players who are inside the dressing room help you win the tournament,” Gambhir concluded.