Former India opener Wasim Jaffer was associated with Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for quite some time. During his stint as the franchise’s mentor, he worked with the likes of KL Rahul and Chris Gayle, who are among the finest batters in the world’s richest franchise league.
Jaffer, who played 31 Tests and a couple of ODIs for India between 2000 and 2008, recently opened up about his experience of working with Rahul during an episode of The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan. He stated that the raw skill of the 34-year-old right-handed batter from Karnataka matches the very best in the game, but added that a subtle mental edge separates good batters from modern-day legends.
According to Jaffer, Rahul is a top-class player
who has performed well across all three formats. However, he believes that the batter has somewhat underachieved considering his immense talent.
Jaffer feels Rahul can score many more runs for both India and his IPL franchise because, in terms of talent and quality, he is on par with Virat Kohli. However, he believes Kohli’s elite mentality is what ultimately separates the two players.
He said, “KL is a top-class player who plays all three formats remarkably well. Technically sound, composed and level-headed. Even though he is still actively playing, I believe he has somewhat underachieved given his skill set. He can score many more runs for both India and his franchise. In terms of pure talent and quality, I genuinely believe he is at par with Virat Kohli, but it is Virat’s elite mentality that creates the ultimate separation between KL and Virat.”
Rahul made his international debut for India in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2014. Since then, he has played 68 Tests, 98 ODIs and 72 T20Is. He is also one of the few players to have captained India in all three formats and scored centuries in each format of the game.
At present, Rahul is India’s opening batter in Test cricket and the first-choice wicketkeeper in ODIs. In the recently concluded ODI series against England, he featured in the first and third matches but managed scores of only 1 and 12, respectively.
