Aakash Chopra notes that injuries and sicknesses are major hurdles in KL Rahul’s career.
It’s Friday, February 2. India and England face off in the second Test. It’s part of their five-match series in Visakhapatnam.They won’t have Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul. Jadeja, the all-rounder in spin-bowling, has a hamstring issue. Rahul has reported right quadriceps discomfort.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Chopra stated that KL Rahul has been sidelined by injuries or sickness at inconvenient multiple times:
“This has been the biggest problem in KL Rahul’s career. Injuries or illnesses have come at the wrong time and they have come many a time. When you feel everything is gone fine – injury, dengue or COVID – something or the other goes wrong with him. I feel Rahu is sitting in his kundali.”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener believes the Karnataka player’s absence is a significant disadvantage for the hosts:
“The way he played in the first innings, and to be fair, he was batting assuredly in the second innings as well. There are very few people in our team who play the sweep. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul play the sweep, and KL Rahul will now not be there in this game.”
Aakash Chopra
In the initial series match, Rahul made 86 runs before being caught by Rehan Ahmed off new player Tom Hartley. He seemed at ease, scoring 22 runs in the next round, but then Joe Root got him.
Aakash Chopra backs Sarfaraz Khan to fill in for KL Rahul with his unconventional batting
When looking at who Rohit Sharma and his team might pick to replace KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar are the primary options. Aakash Chopra thinks that Khan could be a tempting choice:
“Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar are available with this team. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli are still not there.
“They will have to play either Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz. You can go towards Sarfaraz because he can play in an unorthodox fashion and is a very good player of spin.”
Aakash Chopra
The expert, once a cricket player, considers Patidar may surpass the player from Mumbai.
“However, Rajat Patidar is ahead in the pecking order, as he was with the team earlier. So, he might get the nod as he has come after scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket and playing a lot of spin.”
Aakash Chopra
Rajat Patidar has scored 4000 runs at an average of 45.97 in 55 first-class games, including centuries against the England Lions lately.
Sarfaraz, meanwhile, has 3912 runs at an average of 69.85 in 45 first-class games, including a 161-run effort in the second unofficial Test against the Lions.