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'Should Not Have..' - Shoaib Malik Criticises KL Rahul's Approach In World Cup Final

image-lp6gyu9xKL Rahul top scored for India in CWC Final [X.com]

Despite all Indian batters being in top-notch form across the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, they failed against Australia in the final last evening at Ahmedabad.

Only Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli looked comfortable during their knock, which ended prematurely. Top-scorer KL Rahul, who scored 66 off 107 balls, is facing criticism for his batting, which dried up runs from one end, adding additional pressure on the incoming batters as India folded for 240.

Pakistan batter Shoaib Malik has lashed out at Rahul for his knock, where the latter struck just one boundary and looked out of his comfort zone.

Speaking on 'The Pavilion' on A Sports, Malik stated that Rahul should not have just tried to stay in the middle but rather should have looked to keep the score card ticking rather than scoring big in the death overs. 

Here's what Malik said on KL Rahul

"KL Rahul was just trying to bat through the 50 overs. He should not have done that and should have tried to play his game. If you're batting in tough conditions and the boundaries aren't coming easily, then at least you've got to rotate strike. That wasn't happening, there were a lot of dot balls."

Malik also did not fail to praise Australian bowlers, who understood their assignment better than India, and made it tougher for host batters.

"The venue in which this match was played had long side boundaries. The Australian utilised these boundaries very well. They said we won't let you hit us down the ground and you can hit us square of the wicket. Their bowlers used variations very well. The Australians assessed the Indian conditions better than the Indians and then executed their plans,"  he added.

Australia eventually won the World Cup Final, thus taking home their sixth championship title, having won in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015, respectively.