The veteran Indian wicket-keeper batter, Dinesh Karthik has urged the Indian team management to stick by KL Rahul and keep supporting him as he is witnessing a rough patch in his career at the moment. Rahul hasn’t been able to score valuable runs for the Indian team as he has failed to get going in the ongoing series against Bangladesh. He has scored just 55 runs from three innings in the series. However, Karthik urged the team management to stick behind the India opener.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, as per the quotes in Hindustan Times, the wicketkeeper said that the support staff should back Rahul despite the fact that the latter is going through a tough period. Dinesh Karthik said that Rahul will definitely start the upcoming Australian series. However, the wicketkeeper batter said if the 30-year-old doesn’t perform well in the Border-Gavaskar trophy, then questions will be asked about him.
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Dinesh Karthik explained, “Let’s look at the recent past. Before these two Bangladesh Tests, three against South Africa, four against England that he played. In those 7 Tests, he’s got two centuries and two fifties and those are in away conditions. These are tough conditions to play in, so as a support staff of the Indian team, when you look at him, you know he’s got the skill. He’s not going through the best of times at this point, and you got to back him.”
He further added, “He’s the captain of the Indian team and you can’t let go of him easy. I think, he will definitely start the Australian series, and if things don’t go well there, that is where the questions will start to arise in a much bigger manner.”
Dinesh Karthik said that Rahul is under pressure at the moment and he is tentative when he starts to bat.
The veteran gloveman explained, “Look, I think we have to understand mindsets of batters. Right now, there’s a lot happening in his mind. He’s the captain, he hasn’t got the volume of runs he wants. He is under pressure, he is tentative when he starts to bat. This happens to a lot of batters, literally every batter who plays for the country. You go through spell where you find the runs hard to come by.”
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Dinesh Karthik further elaborated, “It could be the new ball, you feel the conditions are made for batting, sometimes you don’t get to runs and everyday the mind keeps throwing doubts at you and it gets bigger and bigger. In his case, he’s tentative, he’s not very committed to the front foot. He’s hanging back, hoping that the ball would turn and he could play the ball. But at times, he is trying to make an effort to play. It’s not a technical error, there’s a lot happening for KL Rahul at the moment.”
