India batter KL Rahul managed to keep his spot in the 2nd Test match in Delhi of the 4-match Border Gavaskar Trophy. Despite his poor form, Rahul was preferred in India’s starting XI over the in-form Shubman Gill. KL Rahul’s spot in the Indian team came under the scanner after he failed in the opening Test against Australia in Nagpur last week.
Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar said that the Karnataka batter is probably the only cricketer who goes out of form after scoring a century. Speaking on Star Sports Manjrekar said,
“KL Rahul is a curious case because, over the last 5 years, I have found that he scores a hundred and immediately goes out of form. Have you seen a batter like that?”
Manjrekar pointed out that after scoring a hundred in South Africa he had a poor run-in for India in the next 5 matches. He also added that his average is very minimal for a player to have played 45 Test matches for the country.
“In South Africa, he got a hundred and a fifty, and next 5 Test matches for India, he averaged 15. This is a guy who has played 45 Test matches and averages 34,” he further added.
Sanjay Manjrekar continued that Shubman Gill is waiting in the wings and the young opener has been in superb form lately.
I Hope KL Rahul Has A Good Match – Aakash Chopra Supports Out-form KL Rahul
Former Indian Opener Aakash Chopra feels KL Rahul is being wrongly targeted and that the opener should be given a chance in India’s playing XI for the second Test against Australia. Speaking on his youtube channel Aakash Chopra said:
“I don’t see much scope for change in the Indian batting. Only one – Shreyas Iyer will come and Suryakumar Yadav will go. A little pressure has been created on KL Rahul. I hope he has a good match because the guy plays well and people are unnecessarily targeting him.”
A lot of former cricketers want to include in-form Shubman Gill in place of India’s Vice-captain KL Rahul. Under pressure, KL Rahul will look to score some runs and help team India to take a 2-0 lead in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.