India’s stand-in skipper KL Rahul failed to make a mark with the bat in the ongoing two-match Test series against Bangladesh.

The right-handed opener returned with scores of 22, 23, 10 and 2 over four innings in Chattogram and Dhaka. As a result, he is drawing flak from the fans and experts, with many of them questioning his place in the side.

Amid the criticism, veteran India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has backed KL Rahul, saying too much is read into his current form.

Moreover, Karthik said the team management needs to consider the fact that Rahul had score runs on the tough tours of England and South Africa.

“Let’s look at the recent past. Before these two Bangladesh Tests, three against South Africa, four against England that he played,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz. “In those 7 Tests, he’s got two centuries and two fifties and those are in away conditions. These are tough conditions to play in, so as a support staff of the Indian team when you look at him, you know he’s got the skill. He’s not going through the best of times at this point, and you got to back him.”

Karthik feels Rahul will surely play against Australia in the upcoming home Test series.

“He’s the captain of the Indian team and you can’t let go of him easy. I think, he will definitely start the Australian series, and if things don’t go well there, that is where the questions will start to arise in a much bigger manner,” he added.

According to Karthik, KL Rahul is under pressure as there’s a lot happening in his mind.

“Look, I think we have to understand the mindsets of batters. Right now, there’s a lot happening in his mind. He’s the captain, he hasn’t got the volume of runs he wants. He is under pressure, he is tentative when he starts to bat. This happens to a lot of batters, literally every batter who plays for the country. You go through a spell where you find the runs hard to come by,” said Karthik.

“It could be the new ball, you feel the conditions are made for batting, sometimes you don’t get to runs, and everyday the mind keeps throwing doubts at you and it gets bigger and bigger. In his case, he’s tentative, he’s not very committed to the front foot. He’s hanging back, hoping that the ball would turn and he could play the ball. But at times, he is trying to make an effort to play.

“It’s not a technical error, there’s a lot happening for KL Rahul at the moment.”