Cricket Indian Cricket

Should Rahul open in Perth if Rohit skips first Test?

November 6, 2024
<a href="https://revsportz.in/author/shamik/" rel="author" class="url fn n" itemprop="url"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6689afd8005be64d72f1476c350ce125?s=32&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6689afd8005be64d72f1476c350ce125?s=64&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' decoding='async'/> <span class="" itemprop="name">Shamik Chakrabarty</span></a>
KL Rahul in action (Credit: @klrahul on instagram)

 

This is the onset of summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and there’s no ‘thunda’ Down Under. The heat is on. Are India game?

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has made the right call by sending KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel to Australia early, to be part of the India A squad. The former played just one Test against New Zealand, while Jurel had to sit out in all three matches.

Rahul is expected to play a crucial role in the upcoming five-Test series and his arrival in Australia has coincided with Scott Boland starting the mind games. “I was lucky to bowl to him in a Test over in India a couple of years ago, but it will be nice to play against him in our backyard,” said the fast bowler. “He is a world-class player but someone I think we can get on top of pretty early and hopefully stay on top of him for the majority of the summer.”

What would be Rahul’s role in the Test series? Rohit Sharma might miss the first Test in Perth due to personal reasons and in that case, one of the opening slots would fall vacant. The Indian squad has Abhimanyu Easwaran as a reserve opener and logically he should partner Yashasvi Jaiswal in Rohit’s absence. But there’s a catch. Easwaran is a run-machine in domestic cricket, but does he have the wherewithal to counter Pat Cummins & Co on fast and bouncy Australian pitches? The Bengal boy didn’t look comfortable in India A’s tour opener against Australia A, scoring seven and 12 respectively in the two innings. Playing him at Perth could be fraught with risk and Rahul is probably a better choice.

WV Raman, the former India batsman who also served as the head coach of the Indian women’s cricket team, concurs. “He (Rahul) has got the experience and he also opened abroad,” Raman told RevSportz. “On a tough tour like Australia, generally the tendency would be to bank on experience, given that the batting line-up is not in the best of forms in recent times. So, Rahul is not a bad option to consider (as an opener), but it’s also a question of what roles the team management wants to allocate to each individual.”

Rahul has scored centuries in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries; the latest being an excellent 101 against South Africa at Centurion in December 2023. His 129 against England at Lord’s in 2021 was even better. It was a series when Rahul was promoted to open the innings. Cut to the present, and Rohit has spoken about how the team management wants the 32-year-old to settle at No. 6. He wasn’t promoted up the order and Virat Kohli came in at No. 3 in the first Test against New Zealand in Bangalore, as Shubman Gill missed the game due to a stiff neck. “KL has found a place at No 6. So, we wanted him to bat there,” Rohit told reporters.

Inconsistency is the reason why Rahul’s Test average is 33.87 after 53 matches. This is why he faces criticism and it’s a fair one. At the same time, not having a fixed batting position should be given the due consideration. Raman begs to differ. “He’s (Rahul) been around for a while, he’s been backed enough,” said the ex-opener. “He’s been a member of the Indian side in all three formats. So, if you look at it, I don’t think he should be complaining at the number that he bats in. He is not a greenhorn and he should actually stand up and be counted.”

The big question remains, can India bounce back in Australia from a humiliating home series whitewash against the Kiwis? “When India did well in Australia during Covid-19 (2020-21), they had different kinds of challenges there,” said Raman. “They were spending a lot of time in isolation, they had a lot of injuries and they were shot out for 36 in the first Test. Despite all that, they bounced back really well. I don’t think things would be any more challenging than it was for that particular squad.”

As for Rahul, he has a Test century in Australia. But overall, his performance in that part of the world has been pretty average – 187 runs in five Tests at an average of 20.77. As a senior member of the squad, he needs to raise his game, especially at a time when the chips are down.

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