IND vs WI 2025: ‘KL Rahul will curse his dismissal a lot’ – Ex-batting coach on opener’s untimely dismissal in New Delhi Test

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels the star batter KL Rahul will not be too happy looking back on how the top-order batter got dismissed during Day 1 of the second Test between India and West Indies. Rahul’s 38-run knock ended after he failed to get to the pitch of a Jomel Warrican delivery and was eventually stumped by the wicketkeeper.

To start off, Bangar complimented the manner in which Rahul started off his innings in Delhi. He commended the ‘few excellent shots off the back foot’ played by the 33-year-old senior cricketer. The cricketer-turned-coach felt a lot of things were playing on Rahul’s mind as the innings progressed. He indicated this behaviour to the batter’s false shots while using the bottom hand. 

“The way he batted at the start was typical KL Rahul, where he was allowing the ball to come to him. He is a batter who doesn’t try to go onto the front foot much. He plays very well on the back foot, and that’s why a lot of runs come in the square leg and fine leg region against the new ball. He played a few excellent shots off the back foot,” stated Bangar during a discussion on Star Sports.

“We saw him using the bottom hand a little. The bottom hand didn’t look good on the straight drive and the lofted on-drive, and I was feeling that something was wrong, because generally KL Rahul’s aerial shots go towards the sight screen. When he thinks about his dismissal in the dressing room, he will curse himself a lot because something was wrong, due to which he couldn’t convert this score into a big score,” he added.

India ended the day on 318/2 after 90 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal remains unbeaten on a fantastic ton (173* off 253). Sai Sudharsan missed out on his ton by 13 runs. Like Rahul, Sudharsan too got dismissed off the bowling of Warrican.