KL Rahul’s World Cup Redemption: From March 17-22, India will play host to Australia for a three-game One-Day International series. Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul were reinstated to the ODI squad, while KS Bharat was dropped.
Despite KL Rahuls’ retreating performances in the past matches, the upcoming ODI series against Australia has offered him a golden opportunity to redeem his image as the leading wicket-keeper batsman in team India.
Call it pure luck for KL Rahul because he only got a chance to bag this opportunity due to the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant from the series. Both the star players are recovering from serious injuries and will miss the ODI series along with the Indian Premier League 2023.
Moreover, KS Bharat’s poor performance in the test matches, who made 101 runs in 4 tests, can also be a factor in considering Rahul for the spot. His slow performance in the past matches has been a cause of concern for the team and his fans. This ODI series and the upcoming IPL matches will decide whether Kl Rahul’s career is going down for real or if he still has the zeal to perform as a wicket-keeper batsman for the Indian team.
Rahul’s struggles with form have been attributed to his inability to convert starts into big scores. He has often got off to good starts but has failed to carry on and make a substantial contribution to the team. This has led to concerns about his temperament and ability to handle pressure situations.
He has been primarily known for his skills as a top-order batsman and has also kept wickets in some matches. However, in recent times, Rahul has been struggling to find his form, leading to concerns about his place in the Indian cricket team.
However, Gavaskar and the Indian team’s fielding coach, Dilip, had predicted this opportunity for KL Rahul due to his performance as a keeper. Dilip went on to remark that even as a middle-order player he brings a lot of balance to the team with his wonderful wicket-keeping skills.
Sunil Gavaskar, a stalwart of Indian cricket, has suggested that KL Rahul replace KS Bharath as the wicketkeeper-batter for India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June. Gavaskar is of the view that KL Rahul’s presence as a keeper will be productive for the Indian team and selecting him will prove fruitful for the batting order.
Bets are high on KL Rahul with fans keeping their hopes high as this could be his final chance to redeem the top spot in the Indian cricket team.