“Rahul is the kind of player who demands a bit more investment” Aakash Chopra on why KL Rahul deserves a chance in the Test squad


“Rahul is the kind of player who demands a bit more investment” Aakash Chopra on why KL Rahul deserves a chance in the Test squad
KL Rahul

KL Rahul has showed his terrific batting skills in the ongoing IPL 2020. He is currently the leading run scorer in IPL with 641 runs and hold the coveted orange cap. Rahul is the only Indian batsman to score 500 plus runs in three consecutive IPL seasons.

His excellent form has led his way again into the Indian test squad for the Australia tour. Rohit Sharma, who is the vice captain in the limited overs format, had been omitted due to medical reasons. In Sharma’s absence, KL Rahul who has a good performance in white ball cricket has been promoted to vice-captain in the limited overs matches as well.

This decision attracted mixed reviews with many disagreeing with Rahul’s return to the Test format.

KL Rahul’s selection “might be the right decision for Indian cricket”

KL Rahul

Although many weren’t in favour of KL Rahul’s selection into the Test squad, former India opener Aakash Chopra has come out in support of the decision.

Rahul is the kind of player who demands a bit more investment. His technical game is intact even when he is scoring at a rate of knots in the shortest format. His game has no obvious flaws that might make him susceptible to the trials of Test match cricket,” wrote Chopra in his article for espncricinfo.

Whether he will make it big in Test cricket or not, we will find out in good time, but there is merit in getting him back in whites. Players with his quality of skills and talent will get more opportunities than the rest, and while it might seem unfair at the time, like it felt to me in 2007, it might be the right decision for Indian cricket,” he wrote further.

Aakash Chopra further explained Rahul’s way back to the Test setup. He further wrote about why the Sunil Joshi led Indian Selection Committee went with KL Rahul when they had the option to choose Shikhar Dhawan as well.

In the ideal world, Sharma, Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw would be the first-choice openers and Shubman Gill would have been in the squad as back-up. With Sharma’s injury and the lack of clarity about how well or not he is recovering, the selectors had to pick another opener in the side. If it was only about IPL numbers, they would have toyed with the idea of reinstating Shikhar Dhawan too,” Chopra wrote.

KL Rahul has represented India in 36 Test matches, scoring 2006 runs with 5 centuries.

Also Read: Sanjay Manjrekar feels KL Rahul ‘lucky’ to be picked in the Test squad for Australia tour