KL Rahul gives major update on batting position, Opens up on team combination ahead of 1st Test in Nagpur
As Australia is returning to India, after six years since their last visit, Rahul’s position in the India playing XI remains uncertain.
The emergence of Shubman Gill has sparked a debate on whether India should open with Rahul or push him down to middle order for the first Test in Nagpur. Amid all the talk, Vice-captain KL Rahul has broke his silence.
KL Rahul rahul willing to contribute to team’s cause
When Australia had last visited India in 2017, KL Rahul had scored 393 runs with six half-century scores. He was the third-highest run-getter in the series. Even through the lows of 2018, he managed to hand himself a lifeline with his 149 in Oval, before facing the axe.
On return to Test fold in 2021, he scored a ton at Lord’s and then in Centurion, in a bid to cement his place in the Test line-up once again.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the first Test, Rahul said that he is ready to play in the middle order if the team management wants him to do so.
“If the team wants me to bat in the middle, I am ready to do it,” Rahul said to the media.
KL Rahul further opens up on the team combination
He also opened up on the team combination that is likely to feature in the opening Test. The Indian vice-captain reportedly said that the playing XI is yet to be confirmed as there are a few slots to be filled. “Playing XI not decided, it is a tough decision as there a couple of slots available,” he added.
With Gill in a sensational form, veteran cricketers like Harbhajan Singh have backed the youngster to open alongside captain Rohit Sharma, leaving Rahul as a middle-order option. However, the latter faces stiff competition for the other role as well with Suryakumar Yadav being a potential option to fill the gap.
“There will be a temptation to play three spinners” – KL Rahul
The ongoing din around the pitches for the series refuses to die down. While cricket lovers want the matches to last five days each, several experts are expecting rank turners.
Echoing similar sentiments, KL Rahul didn’t shoot down the possibility of India going in with three spinners.
His comments, however, came with a rider. Recalling how the team drew flak recently for benching Player of the Match Kuldeep Yadav, he said the playing XI is drawn up based on what’s best for that particular match rather than the best group of players.
“The playing XI, we obviously try to make a decision based on what is best for the team and that particular Test match. We have done that in the last few years as well. There have been questions raised previously about why a certain player is played.
“Even in Bangladesh, I remember Kuldeep got Player of the Match and there were so many questions about why he didn’t play the next Test match. Obviously the only thinking behind such decisions is to see what is the best XI in those particular conditions…You can play for 20-30 years of the game, and even after you retire, there’s nobody who can look at the pitch and say this is exactly what’s going to happen,” KL Rahul concluded.
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