KL Rahul is under increasing strain as each poor score increases. The India opener is struggling with a lack of match experience and form because he hadn’t played a single T20I this year before the T20 World Cup. Rahul has achieved scores of 1 and 30 against Zimbabwe, a golden duck against Pakistan, and a shaky 36 off 39 balls against Hong Kong in The Asia Cup in the four innings he has played since returning from injury.
Given that this was his first T20I of the year and he was facing a strong bowling attack, the loss against Pakistan can now be overlooked. However, scoring with a strike rate under 100 and using just one offensive stroke during the Powerplay may raise red flags, especially so soon to the T20 World Cup. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has cautioned the team’s opening batsman about Rahul and the form he is currently in.
“Shubman Gill has batted so well in Zimbabwe and the West Indies, as you can see, so there will be a difficult competition for the opening position. Therefore, it’s concerning if you’re not scoring runs and are out of form. Regarding the World Cup, you should only select players who are in top shape, “On Sports Tak, Gavaskar stated.
Rightfully so. With a century and a string of large fifties against them and the West Indies combined, Gill has been in excellent form. There hasn’t been a lack of opener alternatives over the past few months with players like Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant opening the innings for India. If Rahul does not take use of his remaining opportunities, Ishan Kishan and other players could replace him unexpectedly in India’s T20 World Cup squad.