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Things are going from bad to worse for Team India opening batter KL Rahul, who is enduring an extended lean patch with the bat. Continuous failures with the willow have earned Rahul immense criticism from former cricketers and fans, many of whom are urging the Indian management to drop the right-handed batter from the playing XI. Though the Karnataka batter kept his place in India's squad for the remaining two Tests against Australia, he was stripped of vice-captain duties when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad on February 19 (Sunday).
In an exclusive chat with Sports Tak, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh gave a blunt verdict on Rahul and urged him to play domestic cricket or even County Cricket to find his lost mojo with the bat.
"I think it will be good for KL Rahul to take come time off and play some domestic cricket, try and score runs and get his confidence back up. Then bring him back, he is a quality player, there’s no doubt about it," said Harbhajan.
"It will be better for his mindset to play some domestic cricket or somewhere in England, Country Cricket maybe to find some rhythm. Once he finds his rhythm, he can come back in the team and can always be the vice-captain or the captain later on," he added.
Rahul has scored just 38 runs in three innings against Australia in the ongoing series. The two-time World Cup winner (2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup) affirmed that 'superhero' Shubman Gill will replace Rahul in the third Test.
"He (Rahul) is no longer the vice-captain now. The team was just announced now and I feel the reason why he hasn’t been named the vice-captain is because Shubman Gill will be picked for the next match over KL Rahul," the former India spinner said.
“Gill has been in terrific form of late, in ODIs and T20Is. He became the superhero and I feel he will definitely get the chance. Also for Rahul, his dismissal today clearly shows that he is going through a rough time. He has a lot of quality and his a big player but his numbers could have been a lot better," he added.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma's men have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after beating Australia by six wickets in the second Test in Delhi. India leads 2-0 in the four-match series with the third Test scheduled to start on March 01 in Indore.
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