Former Indian national cricket team player and batsman Dinesh Karthik He backed star batsman KL Rahul as the team's long-running opener in Test cricket.
Dinesh Karthik believes KL Rahul should be judged on the excellent performance, which he has shown in away matches and deserves a longer rope as an opener.
KL Rahul has shined in BGT 2024-25
32-year-old Rahul has emerged as one of the best players in the Indian team in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He looked the most stable in the middle of all the batsmen and dealt with the threat of the dangerous Australian fielders well.
KL Rahul has been given the opportunity to open the innings for India on an ongoing basis series After he impressed everyone with his heroics in the Perth Test match.
In absence Rohit SharmaKL Rahul did a brilliant job while opening the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal and scored scores of 26 and 77. He failed in the pink ball Test match where he scored scores of 37 and 7. However, he bounced back in the Gabba Test. He played a brilliant knock of 84 runs in the first innings.
As seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Having gone through a difficult phase, Rahul has taken charge of leading the Indian batting unit very well, and his form will be crucial for the team heading into the final two Test matches of the five-match series.
“I think with KL Rahul, we have the opener India needs” – Dinesh Karthik
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik said that the Indian team management should support KL Rahul even after his failure in a series, as he has great potential to serve as the team's long-term opener.
“I think we have in Kuala Lumpur Rahul the opener India needs. I hope they continue to support him. If, over the next year, there is a series where he gets a few low scores, I hope people don't have a short memory. We have to appreciate what he has done and what he is doing “Today, that matters a lot. People often forget that many Test cricketers are judged on what they do abroad and Rahul has been as good as anyone who has played for the country over a long period.”
“People always complain about his consistency” – Dinesh Karthik
Rahul appeared in 56 Test matches for the India national cricket team and scored 3,216 runs at an average of 34.58. His numbers don't really depict his true potential and many cricket legends have opined that a player of Rahul's caliber should average around 50 in Test cricket.
Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik admitted that Rahul is not among the most consistent players and said that he is a much better player than his average shows, especially in overseas conditions.
“People are always complaining about his consistency. I don't want to use that word. But he takes it upon himself. And his average shows that. But he's much better than that. He's a much, much better person than that.”
“But if you take any Indian team that is planning to tour abroad, it will be one of the first names on that list because you know exactly what you are going to get from it,” he added.
