After big eight-wicket defeat in the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday (October 20), the Indian men’s cricket team will face the Tom Latham-led side in the second match at Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune from Thursday (October 24) onwards. India would like to come up with a big show in the second match to keep their hopes of winning the series alive.
India batters produced a forgetful show in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test and were bowled out for just 46 runs (the lowest Test score in India). However, the majority of them managed to rectify the mistakes in the second inning by playing impressive knocks. But one batter who failed to fire in the second inning as well was KL Rahul.
The 32-year-old right-handed batter, after a six-ball duck in the first inning, could only manage to score 12 runs from 16 balls in the second inning of the match played at his home ground.
After Rahul’s flop show with the bat, called for him to be dropped from the Test team have growing. There’s a possibility that the return of Shubman Gill in Pune could see Rahul lose his spot in the playing XI which merits the question: Is it fair to drop Rahul despite his twin failures in Bengaluru?
While a may argue that Rahul has failed to perform but his Test record in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle suggests otherwise. He has scored 339 runs in six matches and has one century and two fifties to his name.
Most runs for India in WTC 2023-25
He kicked off the season with a fighting 101 in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Centurion last year. He was the only Indian batter to cross the 40-run mark in the first inning of that match. During his stay at the crease in the challenging conditions, Rahul not only saved India from getting bowled out for a low score but also showed that he has the game, which is required to do well in the longest format of the game.
Rahul was out for four runs in the second inning of the 1st Test against South Africa and scored 8 runs in the only inning he played in the second Test at Newlands in Cape Town.
After finishing as the third leading run scorer in the India-South Africa Test series, which resulted in a 1-1 draw, Rahul came out to bat at No. 4 for India in the first innings of the first Test against England in Hyderabad (January 26, 2024). He hammered 86 runs from 123 balls and, during his stay at the crease, smashed eight fours and two sixes. In the second inning, he managed 22 runs from 48 deliveries.
Rahul missed the last four Tests of the home series against England due to an injury and next played a Test against Bangladesh in Chennai from September 19 to 22.
In the series opener played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Rahul scored 16 runs in the first inning and remained unbeaten on 22 in the second.
One may argue that Rahul flopped in the first innings against Bangladesh in Chennai, but then it’s worth remembering that the other top-order batters, except Yashasvi Jaiswal, were also not able to do much with R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja rescuing India.
In the second Test played at Green Park in Kanpur, when the Indian team played aggressively to produce a result, Rahul showcased his attacking intent by smashing 68 runs from just 43 balls.
KL Rahul’s performance in WTC 2023-25 cycle
True, Rahul has struggled with consistency but he is not the only batter to be guilty on this front. Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma’s record in recent matches is also not too different.
So, it seems quite unfair to push Rahul in the firing line alone.
Sarfaraz Khan has made a case for selection in the side by scoring 150 runs in the Chennai Test, and he deserves to be given a long rope. However, in doing so, sacrificing Rahul after just one off game doesn’t seem logical.
Also, with the uncertainty over Rishabh Pant’s participation in the second Test due to a knee issue, there is a possibility that Indian team management could use Rahul as wicketkeeper-batter and keep both him and Sarfaraz in the playing XI.
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