People do not realize how good KL is

Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali heaped huge praise on Indian batter KL Rahul after the recently concluded Test series between the two teams. India beat England by six runs in the fifth Test at The Oval to level the series 2-2.

Moeen Ali reflected on Rahul’s performance as an opener in the series. He reckoned that people do not realize how good he is. While Shubman Gill may have scored the most runs, Moeen felt that it was the best he had seen Rahul bat ever.

“People don’t realize how good KL is, particularly opening the batting. He was brilliant last series in England as well. I actually think Shubman scored the most runs, but I thought KL was probably the best I have seen him play. He is such a good player. I genuinely believe that he is one of the best in the world. Sometimes I just feel like he doesn’t take the handbrake off, generally, I’d say he’s one of the best players in the world,” he said on the ‘Beard Before Wicket‘ podcast. (19:46)

England spinner Adil Rashid echoed Moeen’s sentiments. He felt that Rahul went under the radar and praised him for his batting in the series. Rashid reckoned that this was the first time Rahul was consistent in all five matches.

“He generally goes under the radar. This series how he’s batted, his tempo, his technique, how you speak of the art of batting in Test cricket, there was a lot of that in it. He had his game in order. He looked very comfortable. This has probably been the first where you’ve seen that over a period of five games, where he’s consistently looked class,” he said. (19:46)

The right-hander was among India’s highest run-getters. He made 532 runs at an average of 53.20 with two hundreds and as many fifties. Being part of a young team, he carried out his role superbly as a senior batter.

Moeen Ali picks Indian captain as his ‘Batter of the Series’

In the same episode, Moeen Ali also picked Indian captain Shubman Gill as his ‘Batter of the Series’. Gill ended as the highest run-getter with 754 runs at an average of 75.40 with four hundreds, which included a double hundred.

Moeen reckoned that Gill’s technique and discipline was brilliant. Moreover, this was his first series as India’s Test captain. He not only led from the front but also carried out his responsibilities as a batter.

“There’s been some great batters in this series. KL, Root. But you can’t look past Shubman. I think as a captain, batting number four, the runs he scored obviously, but I think the technique he’s shown has been unbelievable. The discipline. There were times where he could have played more shots, but he just stayed in. As captain, first series, unbelievable effort. I’d give it to him,” he said. (27:10)

Gill broke several records during the series, including going past the legendary Sunil Gavaskar as the Indian captain with the most runs in a Test series. Gavaskar had scored 732 runs against the West Indies in 1978/79 as captain. His tally is also the most by an Asian batter in a Test series in England.