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Indian cricketer KL Rahul, 32, is one of the most elegant right-handed batters in world cricket, who has been a part of the international circuit for the better part of the last 10 years. But despite that, KL Rahul hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations of the fans in terms of consistency across formats, especially in Test cricket, where he averages just 34.12 in 51 matches after making his debut against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2014.
In the last decade, KL Rahul hasn’t been able to be a regular part of the Indian cricket team due to form and fitness issues. Since the beginning of 2023, he has played only six Test matches, scoring 297 runs in 10 innings at an average of 33, which included one hundred and a fifty, while his strike-rate has gone down in the 40s, because of his propensity to be more defensive in his play.
KL Rahul has battled with form and fitness issues in the last couple of years
During KL Rahul’s absence from in four of the five Test matches against England at home last winter, Sarfaraz Khan grabbed his chance with both hands in the debut series, scoring three fifties in just five innings, to put his name firmly in the mix for a middle order slot. Although the Indian selectors preferred the experience of Rahul in place of the youngster Khan in the Chennai Test, which India went onto win by 280 runs against Bangladesh.
In this Test match, the first of the two-match series against Bangladesh last week, KL Rahul was dismissed for 16 off 52 with one four on a pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, which provided a lot of assistance for the pacers on day one. Meanwhile, in the second innings, the right-handed batter had the opportunity to score a few quick runs on the third afternoon, with India looking to set up an early declaration.
With a string of low scores amidst a good innings here and there, KL Rahul could be left out of the Indian Test team if he isn’t able to find his consistency. This seems quite a possible scenario with Sarfaraz Khan filling his slot well in his absence, while Dhruv Jurel has also done his chances no harm last winter when Rishabh Pant wasn’t the part of the Test squad, especially since KL Rahul has kept wickets in the longest format of the game as well.
The performances in the next four Test matches, if selected, could prove to be vital for KL Rahul in getting picked for the five-match Border-Gavaskar Test (BGT) series down under, a decade after he made his international debut there.
