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Rohit Sharma-led India have been dominating Australia in the past few weeks and have retained Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, KL Rahul’s dismal form is being talked about more than Ravindra Jadeja’s superb comeback after recovering from knee injury. It even led to a ‘war of words’ between two former Indian cricketers Venkatesh Prasad and Aakash Chopra. While the team management, head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit have backed Rahul to score runs, there have been calls to replace him with in-form Shubman Gill.
Meanwhile, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir who is also Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor has put his weight behind a struggling Rahul.
“People who are talking about KL Rahul don't know how tough international cricket is. I believe when a player is not performing he needs more backing compared when he is playing well. Name one player who has scored runs from beginning to end. Everyone has faced that phase and you should back the talent,” Gambhir told Sports Tak in an exclusive chat at Arun Jaitley Stadium where India beat Australia by six wickets.
Gambhir also gave Rohit’s example who did not get an extended run in Test cricket as a middle-order batter. On returning to Test squad as opener, Rohit has been phenomenal. Rohit has scored 1,735 runs from 33 innings at an average of 55.96 including six centuries and four half-centuries.
“When Rohit Sharma started his career (he struggled) and now look at his performance. There is absolute change. In the middle of the series this should not be talked about. India are 2-0 up. Each player in the dressing room knows whether he is scoring or not. No media or ex-cricketer can tell players that your performance is not good. Each player evaluates their performance. He should be alone because we all know the quality player he is,” the 41-year-old said.
Rahul has managed to score just 38 runs from three innings. Last year, he scored just 137 runs from eight innings but Gambhir wants Rahul to be given another chance when India take on Australia at Holkar Stadium, Indore.
“It is not easy. When you are playing all formats, a batsman is always one innings away from his best form. I hope he will get a chance in Indore match and he will score runs,” he added.
