Though he is the vice-captain of the Indian side, opener KL Rahul has been struggling with the bat for the past year or so. Especially he had a forgettable year in 2022, as he scored just 137 runs with one half-century, averaging only 17.12 in eight innings.
He only managed 57 runs in India’s recent 2-0 Test series win in Bangladesh and his forgettable performance has set the tongues wagging as his spot in the Indian XI was out under pressure by young Shubman Gill who scored his maiden Test century in the first match against Bangladesh in Chattogram.
One of the criticisms came from veteran batter-keeper Dinesh Karthik who pointed out numbers from Rahul's disappointing Test career to issue a brutal warning to the batter with the home series against Australia around the corner.
Karthik, in conversation with Cricbuzz, pointed out that Rahul has only averaged in the mid-30s, despite playing over 40 Tests, which is among the lowest in Indian Test cricket.
“I would give KL those couple of Test matches, but if things don’t go KL Rahul’s way… The one thing that does go against him is the fact that he has played over 40 Tests and his average is just mid-30s. That is not acceptable for an opener. That is one of the lowest among Indian players for sure, who have played 35 Test matches," he said.
India will next play Tests at home when they face off against Australia in the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy which will be hugely important for the hosts when it comes to WTC 2023 final qualification.
With Rohit Sharma expected to come back into the XI, many feel that it should be KL Rahul who should make way for the India captain in the XI, instead of Shubman Gill, who has done extremely well in the chances he has gotten thus far.
"That is something that he needs to definitely work on. That will be on his mind. If he wants to cement his place in the Test team, he needs to get a couple of hundreds against Australia. Otherwise, you can definitely see a change, with Shubman Gill doing so well," he added.
KL Rahul has played 45 Tests till now and has 2604 runs at an average of 34.26 with 7 centuries and 13 fifties to his name with the best score of 199.
