KL Rahul's poor run with the bat forces experts to come up with harsh opinions

KL Rahul came into the Zimbabwe squad at the last moment and was directly appointed as the skipper ahead of Shikhar Dhawan. He was earlier supposed to be part of the squad for the same tour and was initially left out to deal with post-Covid complications. However, at the last moment, he was declared fit and made a cut to the squad.

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Post his comeback, he has had a poor run for Team India as he failed to fire in the Zimbabwe series. Adding to the misery, he bagged a golden duck in the first match of the Asia Cup 2022 and played a very slow inning in the second match against Hong Kong. Experts did not wait for so long to come up with opinions and most wanted him to be removed:

KL Rahul's poor strike rate:

Ajay Jadeja said in an interview with Cricbuzz that the Indian batter lacked the intent to go big. He took a sly dig and said that the batter has to concentrate on the strike rate. "KL Rahul doesn’t look very confident. He will require more time to get in," he said. 

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Robin Uthappa, the former India cricketer, said in an interview with ESPNCricinfo that Virat Kohli and KL Rahul had a poor strike rate. Although he backed the Indian veteran a bit, he went on to criticize the latter for his poor run. "Both Virat Kohli and KL Rahul played at a slower rate than they probably would have liked to bat at. He can do much better and this is an area of concern," he added. 

The former India great Venkatesh Prasad took it to Twitter and expressed his concern over the Karnataka batter's poor approach. 

Is there something in the pitch that is not visible. Simply can't fathom this approach especially from KL Rahul. #IndvsHkg

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) August 31, 2022

Although the 30-year-old has been criticized for his poor run with the bat, there was one person who backed him all out. 

Sunil Gavaskar backs KL Rahul to go big

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Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian legend, went on to back the Bangalore-born player and highlighted the importance of giving a long rope to the batter. 

"When other players like Avesh Khan are getting a long rope (basically a greater number of chances) why can’t the same be applicable for KL Rahul who is a proven match winner," Gavaskar was quoted as saying.

It is highly unlikely that the batter will be dropped from the squad. Although there are immense chances for him to be dropped from the playing XI, the team will have him on the bench.