‘People are unnecessarily targeting him’ – Former India opener comes in defence of KL Rahul ahead of Delhi Test

KL Rahul has been under the hammer for quite some time now and has been getting a lot of criticism since his return to the team in the Asia Cup in August 2022. Although there Rahul shows glimpses with his batting, one thing he has struggled with is consistency. And this has also instigated fans and former players alike to call for the starlet opener to be dropped from the national team.

The Lucknow captain hasn’t scored a century in a very long time in the international format, with his last century coming against South Africa in December 2021. His conservative approach in all the formats seems to be arch-nemesis. 

I don’t see much scope for change in the Indian batting: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra, on his YouTube channel, said that the only change that India should make is Shreyas Iyer returning to the team in place of Suryakumar Yadav. He said, “I don’t see much scope for change in the Indian batting. Only one – Shreyas Iyer will come and Suryakumar Yadav will go. A little pressure has been created on KL Rahul. I hope he has a good match because the guy plays well and people are unnecessarily targeting him.”

The former Indian team cricketer defended KL Rahul and said that he should be given more chances and should not be dropped just because Gill is waiting on the bench. He said, “I know Shubman (Gill) is sitting outside but the incumbent player does not become bad because someone is sitting out. It is Cheteshwar Pujara’s 100th Test, so I am expecting him to have a good game.”

The second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is set to begin this Friday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. India is leading the series after a massive victory over the visitors in the first Test in Nagpur. India would hope to win the second Test and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and add more points to their Test Championship total.