Former India Spinner Fights KL Rahul's Case As He Says 'Can't Bench Him' Ahead Of Border Gavaskar Trophy 

KL Rahul struggled to score in Bengaluru Test  [Source: PTI]

Indian batter, KL Rahul has had the highest of highs however now stands at crossroads full of criticisms. Labelled as 'The King who never was', KL Rahul has played some memorable knocks for India over the years, not to forget his debut ton against Australia during the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2014.

KL Rahul's Form Receives Criticisms

However, most recently KL's performance has been lacklustre, missing the usual charm; he looks very circumspect while he is at the crease and eventually gets dismissed for a cheap score. While Rohit Sharma and the Indian management has backed him consistently, the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 is an occasion where it's either 'no risk no reward or high risk high' reward situation. 

With the Bengaluru batters' form very much in question, KL has so far not been able to lay his own case at the court of cricket and this makes things only tougher for him, especially now that Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel are impressing the lot with their brilliant performance in the Test set-up.

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India recently had a terrible defeat to New Zealand in the first Test. While both Sarfaraz and Pant stitched up a strong 177-run partnership to save India from an embarrassing innings defeat, all players contributed significantly including Virat Kohli's 70 runs. However, KL Rahul continued to remain the underperforming batter in both the innings as he departed for a duck in the first innings and then for a low score of 12 runs.

Vouching in his support, former India spinner, Venkatapathy Raju has said that Rahul should get one more chance in the playing XI due to his vast experience. He further also stated that Rohit is a positive captain and is likely to not bench the right-handed batter.

"I don't think we should tinker with the playing XI. If I were the captain, I would go with the same side. You need experienced hands in your team. You can't bench KL Rahul after just one Test match. He is an experienced batter and should play the next Test. There's no need to panic. 

India are still on top of the WTC standings. Rohit is a positive captain. He goes in with a positive approach, and he knows that what's done is done, and now it's time to level the series. I’m sure he will," Raju told TimesofIndia.com.

In a far sighted sense, he also stated that the five Tests in Australia should be kept in mind, and KL Rahul should be given another opportunity.

"India should think about those five Tests in Australia and not panic. Let’s play KL Rahul in the second Test and give him a chance. He’ll bounce back. He has experience. India just need to pull up their socks. That’s it," Raju added.

Only time will tell whether India decide to continue with the same playing XI ahead of the upcoming Pune Test starting from 24 October onwards. 

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