Gautam Gambhir, India head coach, has spoken about batter KL Rahul’s role in the Indian team ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test series. The series starts in Perth on November 22 onwards in Perth.
Gautam Gambhir did not indicate which batsman was ahead when he was questioned about India’s opening lineup without Rohit Sharma. He asserted, however, that India will attempt to use the best lineup of KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Shubman Gill as their opening batsmen.
The benefits of having a guy like Rahul in the team who can bat at any position were also mentioned by Gambhir.
One of the players will have to go up in order to join Yashasvi Jaiswal because Rohit Sharma is probably going to be out of action for a Test match because of paternity leave. The decision will be made in a few days, albeit it has not yet been verified.
KL Rahul is a player countries strive to have: Gautam Gambhir
Rahul was benched following the opening Test match against New Zealand. After that, he flew early to Australia to work out with the India ‘A’ team.
Rahul’s performance in India A’s second unofficial Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground therefore had a significant impact on his chances of starting as an opener in the first Test. Since skipper Rohit is anticipated to miss the first Test for personal reasons, India is weighing their options for an opener to accompany Yashaswi Jaiswal.
Gambhir claimed that Rahul’s experience can prove to be beneficial for India. According to Gambhir, Rahul is a versatile batter who can open and bat at any spot in the batting line-up.
“KL Rahul can bat in the top order, he can bat at No. 3, he can play at No. 6. So you need a lot of talent to do all these jobs, and he keeps (wickets) in ODIs. Imagine how many countries have players like KL! He is one of the options (to open batting) if Rohit is not available (for the first Test),” Gambhir told reporters.
Additionally, Rahul is a makeshift wicketkeeper too and can move up to open in case Rohit Sharma is unavailable.
“We will try and get the best combination – be it KL, Gill or Easwaran”, Gautam Gambhir added.
KL Rahul was also an opener at the beginning of his Test career. As an opening batsman in Sydney, he achieved his first Test century. However, his career has not been smooth due to injuries and bad form.
Earlier this year, during the Test series against England, he was dropped to the middle order. Rahul demonstrated his adaptability with a striking middle-order knock.
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