Questions will be asked about India’s batting unit after their defeat against New Zealand in the opening Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. A player that will be under the most pressure is none other than the Bengaluru-based cricketer, KL Rahul.
While the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant have performances under their belt in the opening match, Rahul has been fairly disappointing, to say the least.
While Rahul’s performances come under the scanner, the middle-order batter was seen making a fairly odd gesture when India’s loss against the Kiwis was confirmed. He bowed down to the pitch as a gesture of respect to his home ground.’
Kl Rahul last test match confirmedpic.twitter.com/06q2SVpD3j— Abhishek (@be_mewadi) October 20, 2024
India had gotten a lead in the second innings thanks to the brilliant performance from Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant. But when it was KL’s turn, he failed to step up to the plate.
India’s latest addition to their squad, Washington Sundar being roped in has added speculations to KL Rahul’s possible exclusion from the starting 11. In fact, Sundar has been in decent form with the bat scoring 150 runs for Tamil Nadu when brought up the order against Delhi at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. His bowling skills will also prove to be handy as well.
In the second Test, India’s dominant series-winning streak is at stake, The last time India suffered a series defeat at home was at the hands of England in 2012. With WTC points also up for grabs, it will be in the interest of the Indian team to ensure that Rahul can perform or possibly bring in suitable replacements to reinforce the batting unit.
The second Test will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Pune on October 24-28 while the final game will be at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai starting at November 1 to 5. With one game down in the series, the Indian team will be raring to get firing on all cylinders to level the series and then think about going all the way to win it.
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