Former Australia captain Michael Clarke advises Rohit Sharma and the team management to back underfire player KL Rahul.
Michael Clarke Praises KL Rahul
During the Australia tour of India 2023, both teams are scheduled to play 3 Tests and 3 ODIs between February 9 to March 22.
Struggling batter KL Rahul was dropped for the 3rd Test match against Australia for his inconsistency. KL Rahul scored 20 runs in the 1st Test while managed to score just 18 runs in the 2nd Test.
Though India won the first two Tests they are in need to win the next match to seal the series victory. Shubman Gill, who is having a good run with the bat currenly, has replaced him in the playing XI. However, Clarke is of the opinion that the team management should have shown more faith in the player.
“I really like KL Rahul. He is a great young man and an extremely gifted player. India is winning at the moment so if I was the captain, I would be fighting for him. I would be saying, we are winning, I know he is not at his best but we can afford to keep him in the team right now because we are still winning,” said Clarke on a sports media.
“He is a good enough player, he’s gonna train hard enough and he is going to come good for us. If the team is winning I think he can be keep players that aren’t performing for a little bit longer. So I will be fighting for KL Rahul,” he added.
While Rahul has failed to impress with the bat in the longest format, Clarke feels that he just needs a bit of luck to beat his poor run of form.
“If India feel that KL Rahul is going to be one of their best players, you have got to keep the faith. Of course it is mental, you just need a little bit of luck. I think Rahul is a super player,” said Clarke.
As far as the 3rd Test is concerned, Australia were in need of 75 runs to win the 3rd Test match. Winning the toss, India choose to bat first and scored 163 runs while Australia scored 197 runs. India scored just 109 runs in the 2nd inning after losing 10 wickets.
The last Test match will be played on March 9 in Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
