KL Rahul glasces the ball to the leg side against Australia (AP)
KL Rahul averaged 34.08 after 45 Tests with inconsistency leading to his place in the Indian side being questioned
Giving his views on KL Rahul’s recent performances and batting average, former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said that the batter “goes out of form immediately after scoring a ton.”
The 30-year-old batter’s average of 34.08 after 45 Tests, as well as his consistency, has seen critics questioning his position in the team.
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“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?
“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,” Manjrekar told the broadcaster in the build-up to the second Test match.
Despite a terrible run of form, Rahul has been picked in the Indian XI ahead of Shubman Gill for the second Test against Australia in Delhi.
“Shubman Gill is waiting in the wings. Sure, there is a strong argument to have the class of KL Rahul in the team, but there is also an argument to play somebody who is in form,” Manjrekar pondered.
“Somebody who has played 45 Tests and still averages 34, that tells you a story,” Manjrekar said.
In the first Test in Nagpur, Rahul had managed just 20 runs off 71 balls before he became the maiden Test wicket of spinner Todd Murphy.
Rahul has been going through a rough patch lately. As far as the longest format is concerned, he last brought up a fifty against South Africa at Johannesburg in January 2022, and since then, his highest score in the last eight Test innings is 23.
Rahul, in fact, averages 18 in the last 10 innings with the Indian vice-captain posting scores of 23, 50, 8, 12, 10, 22, 23, 10, 2 and 20 since his century against South Africa in Centurion in the Boxing Day Test back in 2021.
Having wasted so many opportunities in his Test career, it will be interesting to see what call is taken by the Indian team management if the 30-year-old Karnataka man endures another failure before the squad for the last two Tests is announced.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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