India captain Rohit Sharma backed KL Rahul to come good in the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh. The series begins with the first Test in Chennai on September 19 and the second Test will be played on September 27 in Kanpur.
KL Rahul is making his comeback into the Indian Test team. He last played for India against England in Hyderabad early this year and was ruled out of the rest of the Test series due to an injury.
Rahul did not have a remarkable experience in red-ball cricket after 2022, as he went ten innings without scoring a half-century throughout the Bangladesh tour and the home series against Australia.
He scored 125 runs in ten innings, with an average of 12.5 and a high score of 23. However, he rediscovered his mojo in South Africa in December 2023, scoring a tough hundred.
Rohit discussed Rahul's problems in Tests, stating that everyone experiences ups and downs throughout their careers. He praised him for his previous performances and wished him well in the forthcoming season.
"There are a handful of people in world cricket who had a smooth ride. Handful of cricketers had no issues all their life, it was all good. Everyone has an up-and-down career. The best thing to do is to understand yourself, understand expectations from yourself, and what you need to bring to the table for the team. The kind of quality KL Rahul has, everybody knows about him. The message to him from our side was we want him to play the game and bring the best out of him. It’s our duty as well to bring the best out of him,” said Rohit in the pre-match press conference.
“It’s important to give him a clear message of what we expect from you. He has done well since comeback – scored a hundred against South Africa. He scored an 80 in the first Test against England in Hyderabad and unfortunately got injured and didn’t play afterward,” Rohit added.
Rohit Sharma also hoped that Rahul would continue his form and praised him for his technique against both spin and pace.
“It’s important that we give him a clear message every time we get an opportunity to speak to him. That’s what we’ve done. I hope he continues from where he left off in Hyderabad. He’s got the game to play spin, seamers so I don’t see any reason why he can’t flourish in Test cricket. Opportunities are there. Important for him to understand how he wants to take his career forward,” he concluded.
Rahul has played 50 Test matches so far in his career and scored 2863 runs from 50 matches at an average of 34.08 registering eight hundreds and 14 fifties. Rahul will face tough competition from Sarfaraz Khan who shone in his debut series in his absence against England.
(JioCinema/ PTI inputs)
