Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul has faced a challenging year, having been left out of India’s T20I and ODI squads while his place in the Test squad remains uncertain. In the recently concluded series against New Zealand, Rahul began in the middle order for the first match; however, a lackluster performance led to his exclusion from the lineup for the following two games.
Rahul who is known for his sound technique was included in the squad for upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024. Meanwhile, the supposed absence of skipper Rohit Sharma during the 1st Test match means that Rahul could have a potential opening at the top of the order for India.
The wicketkeeper batter was also sent ahead of schedule to Australia ahead to play for India A to get a grasp of the conditions down under. However, with scores of 4 and 10 in the second unofficial test between India A and Australia A, Rahul hasn't done much to cement his position in the playing XI.
In fact, a bizarre dismissal of Rahul during the second innings of the Test match has gone viral on social media which put doubts on Rahul's mindset. While Rahul managed to survive against the pacers in the first phase of the second innings, but he fell while trying to leave a delivery from off spinner Corey Rocchiccioli that went on to hit his pads and then the wickets.
One user on X, said Rahul's dismissal performance more or less settles the opening pair debate for 1st Test. They wrote, “This should clear the KL Rahul (4 & 10 in the practice game) debate for BGT. If Rohit doesn't play first Test, we can have Gill and Jaiswal open the innings and Jurel & Sarfaraz in the middle. Whoever fails, gets dropped in the next game.”
Yet another user suggested the addition of Cheteshwar Pujara in the Test squad, writing, “What happened to him,a player of his class,seems totally confused even after playing over 40 balls. His self confidence seems totally shattered.For the betterment of the team seeing current form of R batsmen,it wud be better to fly Cheteshwar Pujara to Australia.”
Yet another user wrote, “There's no way even KL Rahul fans can defend him”
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