‘What did KL do? He…’: Matthew Hayden makes stunning observation after Rahul’s comeback knock in Perth Test

KL Rahul silenced his critics on Saturday, with a pivotal unbeaten knock in the first Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, in Perth. Rahul, who opened the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal, remained unbeaten on 62 off 153 balls, as India posted 172/0 at Stumps in their second innings on Day 2, taking a lead of 218 runs. India's KL Rahul plays a shot.(BCCI-X)

Speaking to Star Sports, Australia legend Matthew Hayden hailed Rahul's impact, and made an observation on his playing style. Rahul's promotion higher up the batting order has been due to regular captain Rohit Sharma's absence due to paternity leave.

Also Read | Why India will miss Jasprit Bumrah the captain when Rohit Sharma is back from 2nd Test onwards

Matthew Hayden hails KL Rahul

"As a test opener, you fail a lot more than you succeed. It's simple. You're gonna have a ball that's new, conditions that are actually harmful to you as a player, and you're going to get out to it, simple as that. But KL, he's always struck me as a player that's played in his mind a lot as well. Not so much in the positive way I'm talking about now. I think his confidence, which should be off the charts because the boy's got serious talent. But it's almost like the talent has confused this simplicity of the game and therefore interfered with the art of actually just batting, which is about leaving the ball in Test match cricket. And when you think back to the first innings, the conditions were tough. What did KL do? He left the ball better than anyone else in that innings," said the former Aussie captain.

"I think also in the second innings as well, he would have imposed that wisdom onto his younger counterpart who also then came out with another great skill and that is hitting the ball late something which takes great confidence," he added.

After stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and opted to bat on Friday, Rahul (26) and Jaiswal (0) lost their wicket early. But they had the perfect response in the second innings, remaining unbeaten till Stumps.

Click here to read article