Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has shed light on KL Rahul’s poor run in the recent past. Ganguly stated that you are expected to receive criticism when you don’t score runs in India. Rahul hasn’t been able to get going in the Border-Gavaskar series as he has returned with scores of 20, 17 and 1.
Even though Rahul didn’t have the rub of the green in the second innings at Delhi, many cricket boffins reckon he should be dropped from the final two Test matches and an in-form Shubman Gill should replace him. Rahul was also dropped as the vice-captain for the final two matches.
The Indian opener has scored 2642 runs in 47 Test matches at a below-average of 33.44. Rahul has amassed 1214 runs in the last 48 Test innings since 2018 at a below-par average of 25.82, which is well below expectations.
“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,” Ganguly told PTI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of Delhi Capitals’ IPL pre-season camp.
Meanwhile, Ganguly feels what the captain and coach thinks matters more. Both Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma have put their weight behind under-fire KL Rahul.
“There’s so much focus and attention with lot of pressure on players. The team management thinks he is an important player for the team. At the end of the day, what coach and captain thinks is important,” the veteran added.
The Karnataka batter has scored centuries in England and South Africa but he hasn’t been able to perform consistently in the red-ball version.
“He has performed but obviously you expect a lot more from a top order batter playing for India because the standards set by others are so high.
“When you fail for a while, obviously there will be criticism. I am sure Rahul has ability and I am sure as and when he gets more opportunities, he will have to find ways to score,” he explained.
India will have selection headaches before the third Test match, which will be played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore from Wednesday.
