‘The Team Had…’ Tom Moody Defends KL Rahul’s Knock, Slams Lack Of Support From Teammates News24 –

By Correspondent On May 19, 2025

Tom Moody mentioned after the match that KL Rahul has not been noticed for his true skill despite becoming unbeaten on 112 against Gujarat Titans to save Delhi Capitals. Although Delhi struggled in the first five overs, making only 28, Rahul nearly helped them reach the 200-run total. However, his efforts fell short as Sai Sudharsan (108 not out) and Shubman Gill (93 not out) comfortably chased down the target, securing a playoff spot for Gujarat Titans.

Tom Moody About KL Rahul

“I always find the criticism around KL Rahul quite extraordinary. I think he’s a lot better player than a lot of people give him credit for. And the way I look at this innings, I think it’s an outstanding innings,” Moody said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out.

“And yeah, look, it’ll depend on who wins the game as to whether he’s, you know, the Player of the Match or not. But the way I look at this and I look at the batting card, what’s let them down and not reaching that 220 is the other batters that were in only struck at 150. On a (batting-friendly) surface, you want impact.

“When you’ve got someone in there that’s anchoring, that’s building the total, your role when you come in is to impact the game – 30 off ten balls, those types of innings, that suddenly take you to that 220. Instead of pointing the finger at the same person, I think it’s the other way around,” he added.

Moody Highlights Missed Opportunity

“The team had the opportunity to get it to 220. The team didn’t do that. This is not an individual sport. This is a team sport. And that’s where the communication around who’s coming in and the communication when you’re out there – ‘Okay, we need to target two boundaries at the beginning of this over; let’s make this a big over’, that type of conversation.

“To me, they just lay idle a little bit in that middle [period]. And also, we’ve got to recognise KL Rahul, I believe, only faced four (six) balls in a period of four overs in the middle of that. So, therefore, he lost a bit of his rhythm as well,” Moody said.