Ever since his groin injury in early June, times have been difficult for KL Rahul. First, he had to sit out for over two months due to the surgery and then the covid-19 that ruled him out of the West Indies series.
After his return, his bat has been quiet. In Zimbabwe, Rahul scored 1 and 30 in two ODI outings. Being the incumbent, and the vice-captain, KL Rahul got back his opening position for the Asia Cup 2022.
Against Pakistan, he was bowled for a golden duck by Naseem Shan. Against Hong Kong then, he bided his time in the middle, but was too slow with his approach – he scored only 16 runs in the 20 balls he faced in the powerplay, before eventually getting out for 36 runs scored from 39 balls, with 2 sixes and no boundary.
Is KL Rahul’s position in Team India under threat?
It would be unwise to assume that KL Rahul will be on the plane to Australia if he doesn’t perform well in the coming games.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has already stated the in-form Shubman Gill as a strong contender for KL Rahul’s opening slot in the eleven should the latter not come back to form soon.
“See, Shubman Gill has batted so brilliantly in Zimbabwe and West Indies so there definitely is a stiff fight for the opening slot, the fight is tough. So if you aren’t scoring runs and not in form then it’s concerning. It’s a matter of the World Cup, where you should only take players who are in form,” Gavaskar said on Sports Tak.
22-year-old Shubman Gill has been in terrific form this year. After a title-winning season with Gujarat Titans, Gill returned as the Player of the ODI Series in West Indies and Zimbabwe. And, not to forget, India had already tried Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav as openers in T20Is in England and West Indies, so the management definitely has alternatives – including Sanju Samson – if they decide to move on from KL Rahul.
Rahul, though, has a number of more matches left before the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. There are a few games in the Asia Cup left and after that India will host South Africa and Australia for white-ball matches.
73-year-old commentator Sunil Gavaskar asserted India shouldn’t take an out-of-form batsman in the T20 World Cup.
“There is no scope of taking a chance with someone there, hoping that after 2-3 matches, a player will return to form. No. Because all World Cup matches are tough. Rahul has a few matches left and he will have to score runs otherwise, the selection committee will think what to do next,” the former India legend opined.
