The ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India hasn’t been less than a nightmare for the Indian opener KL Rahul. After spending quite a few months warming the bench, he made a comeback to the squad during India’s tour to England. However, he flattered to deceive in the series, barring a century at the Kennington Oval in London. The Karnataka batsman failed to make a mark during the series against the Windies as well.
Nevertheless, the selection committee decided to continue with him and included him in the 18-man squad for the Australia tour. In the first innings of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval, he failed terribly. However, he made some changes in the second innings with a knock of 44 and it would’ve acted as a much-needed boost for him. But Rahul’s poor run of form continued in the second Test match in Perth.
The opener managed to score a couple in the first innings and then got out for a duck in the second. The team management ran out of patience with him and Rahul didn’t play the third Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The visitors used two new openers- Mayank Agarwal, the debutant and Hanuma Vihari, who was promoted from the middle order- in that match.
Watch: The Promo Of KL Rahul At Koffee With Karan
Nevertheless, Rahul came back to the playing XI for the fourth and final Test at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). He opened with Agarwal, who turned up with his second half-century in his Test career. To his sheer disappointment, KL couldn’t make the opportunity count and got out to Josh Hazlewood after scoring nine from six balls. He promised with two boundaries, but couldn’t carry on.
Rahul tried to defend, but the ball shaped away and found his outside edge into the hands of Shaun Marsh, who didn’t make any mistake at first slip. In the meantime, Rahul didn’t get demotivated by the failure and decided to hit the nets in order to practice hard. He is most likely to get another go in the second innings when the pitch at SCG is expected to be a tad difficult to bat.
Here is the video of Rahul’s practice:
KL Rahul back in the nets. The runs aren’t coming but it’s not for lack of effort. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/p9OyF6OLWx
— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) January 3, 2019
