Very weirdly, the fact that Team India has the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Cheteshwar Pujara in their sides, it sometimes makes KL Rahul seem a lot less younger and inexperienced than he actually is.
Rohit Sharma is still the captain across formats, and KL Rahul is, at the moment, his designated deputy, the latter is considered the “future” of Indian cricket, with fans and experts claiming that he’s yet to untap his full potential – which is true, yet, KL Rahul is 30 years old and will be 31 by April.
He has featured in 45 Tests, having made his debut in 2014, and averages 34 in Test cricket.
Even considering the fact that the past 7-8 years have been really more bowling-friendly than batting-friendly Test conditions across the world – with teams aiming to take 20 wickets perhaps more than ever – this average of 34 of Rahul’s still is quite below that what one would expect from a top-quality batsman from one of the Big Three cricketing nations.
It is not that KL Rahul hasn’t been dropped. He was dropped after the 2018/19 Australia tour, but made a successful comeback in 2021 England Test tour and carried on his form in South Africa too.
But, the past few months, since his return from the hernia surgery, Rahul has been disappointing with the bat, in particular in T20Is with his conservative approach and timidity and lack of performance in important games or against good bowling oppositions.
In Tests, though, currently, it seems even unfair when fans ask for his axing from the Test team. Rahul was India’s best – or second-best – batsman on their last two overseas tours – in 2021 in England and South Africa.
Then he missed the home Sri Lanka series due to injury, and the recently concluded Bangladesh tour – where he scored 57 runs across 2 Tests – was only his red-ball comeback in about 11 months.
Not to forget, KL Rahul is the vice-captain of the Test team too, and has led India in 3 Tests so far
Since July 2021, KL Rahul averages 33 in Test cricket. But among Indians, only Pant, Iyer, Jadeja and Rohit average over 40, and Iyer has played in only one Test outside Asia so far, Jadeja and Rohit both have played in fewer Tests in this period than Rahul due to injuries. Virat Kohli in the same time has averaged only 27.
Shubman and Mayank both have averages in this timeframe similar to KL Rahul. So the notion that KL Rahul should be replaced by either Gill or Agarwal doesn’t seem justified either, especially on the basis of one dismal tour of Bangladesh.
India’s next series is the important Border-Gavaskar series at home against Australia, crucial for the hosts to reach the WTC final. Rahul was India’s second-highest scorer in the 2017 home series against Australia where he scored 6 fifties in 7 innings. It is only reasonable that KL Rahul gets at least another series, in home conditions, before the BCCI selectors think of dropping him.
