Another, rather yet another, disappointing outing for KL Rahul in the Indian shirt as the opening batter continues to give critics opportunities to question his selection. The veteran batter hasn't done justice to his talent of late, giving fans and some former cricketers chance after chance to critique his performances. As Rahul came out to bat in the 2nd innings of the second Test against Australia, he could only score 1 run before being sent packing by Nathan Lyon. His dismissal led to a meme feat on Twitter.
Rahul hasn't been in the best of form for a while but continues to enjoy the team management's backing. With someone like Shubman Gill waiting in the wings, there is a section of experts who remain bemused by the management's stance on Rahul.
Venkatesh Prasad is one such former India cricketer who has been extremely critical of Rahul's performances.
"And the torrid run continues. More to do with the rigidity of the management to persist with a player who just hasn't looked the part. No top-order batsman in at least the last 20 years of Indian cricket has played these many tests with such a low average," Prasad had tweeted after Rahul's early dismissal in the first innings of the Delhi Test in a series of tweets.
"His inclusion deliberately denies talented guys, in form guys an opportunity to be in the 11. Shikhar had a test average of 40 plus, Mayank averages more than 41 with two double hundreds, Shubhman Gill is in sublime form and Sarfaraz's never-ending wait. Many domestic performances are constantly ignored. His inclusion shakes belief in Justice. SS Das had great potential, and so did S Ramesh. Both averaged 38 but did not get beyond 23 Test matches. Rahul's consistent inclusion gives the impression of a lack of batting talent in India which isn't true. Last 5 years his average has been below 27 in 47 innings.”
"As per me, he is not among the 10 best openers in India but is being given endless chances. Guys like Kuldeep Yadav put in man-of-the-match performances and the next game are dropped with theories like horses for courses. In any course, KL is not a horse. Sad," he had further said.
As Rahul departed for just 1 run in the second innings on Day 3, fans used Venkatesh Prasad as inispiration to troll Rahul by using some hilarious memes.
As for the match, India set themselves an 115-run target after bowling out Autralia for 113 in the second innings.