India wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul failed to perform in his recent outing against New Zealand in the first Test match which was played at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. India got bundled out on 46 in the first inning against BlackCaps where five batters got out on a duck and KL Rahul was one of them. New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets to take 1-0 lead in three Test match series.
KL Rahul is currently going through a rough patch in his career, the wicketkeeper batter registered scores of 101, 4, 8, 86, 22, 116, 22*, 68, 0 and 12 in his last outings playing in the middle order.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar urged BCCI's support staff to work on him when he is not part of playing XI.
"Yes (Rahul will have to make way). Shubman Gill is the in-form No. 3. I feel sorry for KL Rahul because he has been quite an enigma scoring 8-9 (8) centuries but he averages 35 (33.87) in 50 (53) odd tests. He has two centuries in South Africa, and the last one he got was the only one from an Indian, so a guy who can do that somehow hasn't been able to sustain quality performances. He's got so much class and ability... Let's hope somebody works on him when he's away from playing XI," Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
India are scheduled to play the second Test match against New Zealand on October 24 which will be hosted by Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. There are chances that KL Rahul will miss his spot in the playing XI as Shubman Gill is fit for selection and benching Sarfaraz Khan after his 150-run knock in the first Test match would be injustice for him.
However, Gambhir stood by Rahul, asserting that social media opinions wouldn't sway the team's choices. He also commended Rahul for his composed innings of 68 runs off 43 balls against Bangladesh in the second Test held in Kanpur.
"Social media doesn't matter one bit. You don't pick players based on social media, even what the experts are saying or think. It is important to what team management thinks and what the leadership group. International cricket is all about being judged. He has had a decent knock in Kanpur in difficult conditions. Yes, he wants to score big runs, and that is why he is being backed by the team management," Gambhir said in the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
