Border-Gavaskar Trophy: India batting coach Vikram Rathour said that India are not there yet when asked about KL Rahul’s spot in the Playing XI.
New Delhi ,UPDATED: Feb 10, 2023 19:02 IST
KL Rahul is enduring a poor run with the bat. (AP Photo)
By India Today Web Desk: KL Rahul is enduring a poor run with the bat for the last one year. The India top-order batter’s spot in the playing XI has become a topic of debate among cricketing experts and fans.
Rahul, who returned to the team after missing the series against New Zealand, failed in the Nagpur Test challenge against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. An under-confident Rahul struggled against Australia in his first innings before Todd Murphy ended his nightmarish stay in the middle for 20 off 71.
However, India batting coach Vikram Rathour backed Rahul to come good, citing his previous knocks, including hundreds in South Africa and England.
“To be fair to KL, the last 10 Test innings that he has played, he has a couple of hundreds and a couple of fifties. He has a hundred in South Africa, in England. I don’t think we are there (on his spot in the playing XI),” Rathour said in the press conference after stumps on Day 2 in Nagpur.
Earlier, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh said that Rahul could have scored more runs had he batted with an attacking approach during the final session on Day 1 of the first Test.
“KL Rahul would be disappointed as he was taking more time. I believe if he could have kept an attacking approach, then he could have scored more. I hope in the second innings if he gets the chance to bat, he will score some runs for his own confidence,” Harbhajan said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
India reached 321/7 at stumps, with Ravindra Jadeja (66*) and Axar Patel (52*) in the middle on Day 2 after India captain Rohit Sharma hit his ninth Test hundred.
