KL Rahul had his torrid run continue in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy match against Australia. In the initial Test, he received just a 20. He was out on Day 2 in the second Test for 17 off 41 balls. Rahul, a gifted batsman, last reached a Test half-century in January 2022 at Johannesburg against South Africa. In December 2021, against the same opposition, he recorded his final Test century. He struggled to get going on Saturday and could not have a significant impact.
Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad came down hard on Rahul after yet another below-par knock.
“And the torrid run continues. More to do with the rigidity of the management to persist with a player who just hasn’t looked the part. No top-order batsman in atleast the last 20 years of Indian cricket has played these many tests with such a low average. His inclusion is deliberately denying talented guys, in form guys, an opportunity to be in the 11,” Prasad tweeted.
In tests, Shikhar averaged 40+, Mayank had 41+ with 2 double hundreds, Shubhman Gill was sublime, and Sarfaraz was never overlooked. Many domestic performances were ignored.
“The inclusion of Rahul shakes faith in justice. Rahul’s inclusion gives the impression that there is a lack of batting talent in India, but that is not true. His average in the last 5 years has been below 27 in 47 innings. SS Das and S Ramesh averaged 38+ but never played beyond 23 Test matches.
In any case, KL Rahul is not a horse. He is not among the top 10 openers currently in India but is given endless opportunities. Guys like Kuldeep Yadav put in a man-of-the-match performance and are dropped next game with theories like Horses for courses. Sad.”
