In the last couple of months or so, KL Rahul has turned out to be one of the most versatile batsmen Tem India has ever seen. In the three-match ODI series against Australia, he came to bat at various positions in all the three games, but he smashed 80 off just 52 balls in the second game. In the series-decider, he had opened the batting after Shikhar Dhawan injured his shoulder while fielding.

The team-management asked Rahul to open the innings during the five-match T20I series against New Zealand as Dhawan could not make it to the tour due to injury. Rahul became the top run-scorer and bagged the Man of the Series award, helping India clean sweep the five-match series.

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Despite Rahul’s consistent performances as an opener in T20Is, the team management surprisingly dropped him at number five for the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand. With both Dhawan and Rohit Sharma out due to injury, the Karnataka batsman was expected to open the innings, but the team management decided to open with a new combination of Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.

And the decision has surprised former India opener Gautam Gambhir. as he seemed completed unimpressed with the decision. Gambhir suggested that India should have opened with Rahul and Agarwal while out-of-favour Rishabh Pant should have kept the wickets.

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AS per the quotes in Times of India, Gambhir said, “I am not sure if it is a great idea to remove KL Rahul from the top of the order. If anything India could have gone with a Rahul-Agarwal combination and have Rishabh Pant keep wickets. Rahul is a valuable asset and should be well looked after. Yes, he has done some good work behind the stumps in the games that he has kept. But I am not sure he should be expected to keep in the 50-over format.”