Shubman Gill-led India are currently in England preparing for the upcoming Test series, which is scheduled to start from June 20. The Board of Control for Cricket in India have already announced their squad, but there is still a mystery on who will be playing at number four in the upcoming five-Test series, as batting great Virat Kohli announced his retirement from the longest format of the game before the all-important series. While the newly appointed captain Shubman Gill and star batter Karun Nair are reportedly the front-runners to replace Kohli's batting order, former Australia cricketer Matthew Hayden believes that wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul as one of the candidates to bat at the position.
The number four position in Indian Test team belonged to some of the most legendary players in Indian cricket, including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, who recently stepped down from the format. Looking at the squad, KL Rahul will most likely to feature as an opener alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal; however, Hayden reckons that the 33-year-old could be the perfect like-for-like replacement for Virat at number four. The former opener also opened up on why he thinks that the Karnataka batter should not be opening alongside Jaiswal, especially in England.
“I have just got one other issue here as well. KL Rahul, he will open. I am just going to make that call. My problem with that is I believe he is your best player in Test match cricket. He can be a like-for-like replacement of Virat Kohli, absolutely custom-made at No. 4," Hayden told via Star Sports.
“The reason why I don't like him as an opening batter, and we saw this in Australia as well, he gets out 57% of the time caught behind, nicked off. So he looks so technically sound, how amazing is it, and then suddenly he is out," he further observed.
Hayden further stated that KL Rahul can perform well in the tough overcast conditions in the UK, and he also labelled Rahul as the best player for India in Test cricket. According to the Australian opener, Rahul can play the perfect anchor role at number four if the damage is already done with the new ball.
“For me, that bit of protection around your best player, KL Rahul, is a sure thing in English conditions, and maybe the best place to bat in England as well. When the damage is done with the new ball, you can come in and you can just set out your stalls," Hayden added.
“It can be the hardest place to bat, and then it can be the easiest place to bat in the world as well when the sun is out and it's shining, and you are just there going 'Hello, I am batting all day here.' To me, that's the key point of difference. It's not going to happen. I don't believe, but if I were a selector, that's what would happen,” he concluded.
India squad for England series
Shubman Gill(C), Rishabh Pant(vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Parishdh Krishna, Akashdeep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav