T20 World Cup 2022: Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on KL Rahul for pulling off the direct hit to dismiss Liton Das at a stage when Bangladesh were threatening to take the Super 12 match away from India.

It was a magical moment: Gavaskar lauds Rahul for presence of mind in Liton Das run out. Courtesy: AP

By India Today Web Desk: Former batter Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on KL Rahul for showing a great presence of mind while running out Liton Das in India’s T20 World Cup 2022 Super clash against Bangladesh on Wednesday, November 2 at Adelaide Oval.

Liton scored 60 runs off 27 balls after smashing a half-century in 21 balls. On the back of his knock, the Tigers were well on course to beat the Men in Blue in the crucial encounter. However, Rahul pulled off a direct hit from midwicket and caught Liton short of his crease.

Gavaskar praised Rahul for making an adjustment while throwing and noticing that the Dinajpur-born Liton had slipped while trying to take the second run.

“It was a magical moment. Because remember, the fact that he had to come around and then, instead of hitting, he could have taken the easier option and thrown towards the wicketkeeper’s end because that was the direction he was running towards his left,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to India Today,

“But then to stop and turn, and hit towards the bowler’s end took a lot of presence of mind. He might have seen through the corner of his eyes that Liton Das had slipped a little bit, stuttered a little bit for the second run, and realised that was the end that was more profitable than the batting end,” he added.

After Liton got out following the rain delay, the rest of the Bangladesh batting failed to step up. With 20 runs left from the last six balls, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Taskin Ahmed tried their hearts out, but their efforts went in vain as Bangladesh lost the match.

Bangladesh’s last and final Super 12 match is against Babar Azam’s Pakistan on Sunday, November 6 at Adelaide Oval.