KL Rahul triggered a bit of a debate between former India cricketers Deep Dasgupta and Sanjay Manjrekar. The debate wasn’t heated, nor did it stretch, but Manjrekar and Dasgupta had different things to say about how Rahul’s international career – especially Test – had shaped up since his debut 11 years ago. Rahul has played 58 Tests for India, but with 3257 runs, averages 33.57, a figure considered a tad poor given someone of his experience. Be it due to injury or form, Rahul has been in and out of the team way too many times, something that has hampered his numbers. But Dasgupta, instead of blaming Rahul for his performances, held the BCCI responsible for treating the Indian batter unfairly.
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“See, I just hope they give him a permanent position now. He made his debut in 2014. It’s been more than a decade, but we still don’t know where does he fit into the Indian Test side? Is he a middle-order batter? Is he an opener? I think it’s about time to tell him, ‘KL, you’ve got to play this series or whatever, and you’re going to play as an opener. This is what you’re going to do. And I think once you give him that position, that security, we will see a different KL Rahul,” Dasgupta said while speaking on Star Sports ahead of the start of India’s first innings of the Headingley Test against England.
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“As of now, in every series,Virat Kohli’s absence felt even before first ball is bowled in IND vs ENG Test: ‘Moved on from Gavaskar, Sachin but…’ it’s like KL Rahul is trying to cement his position from one series to the next. You need a wicketkeeper in South Africa, call him. You need a No. 5, call him. Opener? Yes. So that’s something I think is being quite unfair on him. It’s been a decade now. Come on. Give him that series, maybe more than that and tell him this is how we are looking at you – as an opener – and play him.”
Sanjay Manjrekar contradicts
As Dasgupta pointed out, Rahul has been the perennial floater for the Indian team across formats. In Tests alone, he has moved up and down the batting order more than anyone else. As opener, Rahul has scored 2815 runs, and 234 runs from the six Tests he has batted at No. 6. Manjrekar did not see eye-to-eye with either Dasgupta or his judgment, pointing out the flaw in Rahul’s career all these years.
“Am I allowed to contradict? I will be nice. I believe KL Rahul has not shown the kind of consistency that’s expected of him at any position. Had this been a guy who averaged 52 as an opener, nobody would dare drop him to No. 4 or 5. Having said that, huge responsibility on him. And Deep, given your assessment of leaving the balls, we’ll see how Rahul goes about it today,” said Manjrekar.
With Rohit Sharma’s retirement, Rahul has another fine opportunity to solidify himself as India’s opener along with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
