JOIN USSaying that KL Rahul would have done well to restrain himself from playing a stroke that caused his dismissal, Anil Kumble felt there was no point in blaming the batsman.
“In hindsight, yes,” said India’s Head Coach when asked if Rahul could have avoided the shot. “You need to play your shots on this type of wicket. You couldn’t really blame the batsman. In hindsight he could have held back. After that (dismissal), that was the start of things to happen. It was unfortunate we had a poor day. The lower order has contributed to us exceptionally in the past and today was not our day,” he explained.
In the process of hoisting Steven O’Keefe, Rahul not only lost his wicket but also appeared to have hurt his left shoulder. Kumble, however, said the batsman was alright.
“He hurt his shoulder little bit. It came off (dislocation) a little bit while he was batting. So we had to take care, this is more a precaution. He is okay now. He was back in the field for the last couple of overs. He should be okay. Tomorrow we have to see how he responds. Usually these kinds of injuries take 24 hours before they resurface. So we are hoping he will be fine.”
When asked if the discomfort he was feeling compelled him to play that stroke so that he can gather as many runs as possible before he had to leave the ground, Kumble answered in the negative.
“I think the shot caused the injury, not just to him but even to the team,” he said, perhaps in half jest. “It’s one of those things. He should be okay tomorrow morning.”
Kumble also put India’s brittle position to one bad day that teams are bound to go through after such a successful long run. “It was disappointing. We were in a pretty decent position when Rahul and Ajinkya (Rahane) were batting out there. But once Rahul got out, we lost those four wickets in five or six balls (eight balls). That certainly pushed us back. You are bound to have a bad day. It was one of those things where a couple of soft dismissals (lead to this). And this pitch was certainly challenging,”he said.