KL Rahul has been unable to fire in the ongoing Border Gavaskar trophy and, consequently, is removed from vice-captain status for the upcoming tests vs Australia. Former BCCI president Saurav Ganguly too spoke his views on out-of-form KL Rahul.
Indian test opener KL Rahul’s form has been a centre of attraction as he has struggled to score runs for his team for quite a long time. His last half-century came 11 innings back, and he has not covered the 25-run mark since then.
Venkatesh Prasad and Aakash Chopra were involved in fierce loggerheads on social media on the matter. While Aakash Chopra supported KL Rahul, Venkatesh Prasad didn’t mince his words to call the batter’s presence mere ‘favouritism’ of team management.
His IPL team mentor Gautam Gambhir also talked in favor of the batsman and supported him in his ongoing lean phase.
Saurav Ganguly: “When you don’t score in India..”
Now former BCCI president Saurav Ganguly has opened up on Rahul’s criticism. He said, “When you don’t score runs in India, obviously you will get flak. KL Rahul hasn’t been the only one. There have been players in the past also.”
Saurav Ganguly even emphasised that the team management believes KL Rahul is an important player and is thus preferred as the opening batter. He added, “There’s so much focus and attention with a lot of pressure on players. The team management thinks he is an important player for the team. At the end of the day, what the coach and captain think is important.”
Saurav Ganguly believes Shubman Gill has to wait.
Shubman Gill has been in outstanding form in the limited overs format. Still, he has been benched in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy to make up for KL Rahul.
Speaking on the opportunity for Shubman Gill, he said, “I am sure when his time comes, he will also get a lot of opportunities. I think the selectors, the captain, the coach thinks of him and rate him very highly. That’s why he is playing ODIs and T20Is. He has performed as well. But at the present moment, perhaps the message from team management is that he has to wait.”
The former Indian captain also believes that the scenario of Australia avoiding a 4-0 whitewash seems very unlikely. With their key players absent from the upcoming two matches in away-from-home conditions, India has become the favourites to win.
He added, “India is a different beast in India. They are a pretty good team all around but in India they are pretty hard to beat. When it starts turning, they are a better side than anyone. I don’t know how Australia can stop it (4-0 whitewash).”
India will now take on Australia for the third test on March 1 in Indore.