KL Rahul played too many dots, says Malik

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik criticised KL Rahul's approach in the final against Australia, saying that the batter played too many dot balls which led to India losing their early momentum.

Rahul was India's top scorer in the final with 67 runs but it took the batter 107 balls to score those runs.

Malik wasn't impressed by Rahul's efforts, saying that the in-form batter looked off colour in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

"He [KL Rahul] has been taking a lot of responsibility when India lose quick wickets up front. If you will see his today's innings 66 off 107 balls, it was not a KL Rahul innings," Malik told A Sports on Sunday.

"He went into a zone, where he only wanted to play the whole fifty overs. He should have been a little more proactive," he added.

Rahul found it difficult to rotate the strike and also couldn't hit boundaries to release the pressure. In his entire stay in the middle, Rahul could hit only one four, which came in the 27th over, which was also the first boundary in the match after 97 deliveries.

Malik felt that Rahul should've been more proactive at the crease to make up for the dearth of boundaries.

"When you are batting on tough condition and you are not able to hit the boundaries, at least you rotate the strike. He played a lot of dots ball," said Malik.