Sourav Ganguly has expressed his disappointment over the exclusion of star batsman KL Rahul from India’s playing XI in the group-stage clash of the ongoing Asia Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan. Ganguly believes if India are looking to build a potentially World Cup winning team then Rahul deserves to be in the scheme of things.
In the absence of Virat Kohli from Asia Cup 2018, Indian team management have preferred Ambati Rayudu at the crucial No. 3 position whereas Karthik is batting at 4.
"I respect all the players in the current team as I myself have played the game for a long time but I still feel that India should have gone for Rahul instead of Karthik. In England, everyone saw that Karthik couldn't score runs. And if you are looking to build a team for the World Cup, Rahul and Rishabh Pant's name should come before Karthik's. The latter deserves to be in the team only if he is the wicket-keeper as well, otherwise, Rahul is a far better player than him. His career is on the wane," Ganguly told India TV.
"I was surprised to see the exclusion of KL Rahul against Hong Kong. Maybe he was rested but he has only played 30-odd ODIs and he should be made to play more often as he is a good player. The most important thing is to define his role and batting position in the team. We can't play him as a floater always," he added.
During the limited-overs series against England in July, India’s regular skipper Virat Kohli had said that sorting the middle-order is one of their main goals. Subsequently, Virat opted to bat at No. 4 in the T20Is and pushed KL Rahul at three where the latter scored a century in the opening game at Old Trafford.
However, Kohli came back at his usual No. 3 slot in ODIs with Rahul batting at 4, Suresh Raina at 5 and Dhoni at 6 in the first two matches. In the third ODI, India dropped Rahul and batted Dinesh Karthik at 4. With less than 12 months to go for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in UK, India’s hunt for two solid middle-order batsmen still continues.
"The one thing that scares me a bit is that the World cup is not far away while the Indian batting sans Kohli looks vulnerable. Dinesh Karthik's career is on the wane, MS is not in his prime anymore, Kedar Jadhav and Ambati Rayudu are making comebacks. So if you are playing four such batsmen who are not settled in this format and not a certainty in the team then it looks like the selectors are compromising with quality in the team. So the mindset needs to change," Ganguly concluded.
