KL Rahul has been witnessing a rough patch in his career for a while now. Although he has scored some half-centuries here and there, he has looked far from convincing, and more importantly, failed to deliver in crunch games. Rahul was seen batting at batted at No. 4 in the ODIs against Bangladesh, an indication that the team management may no longer be viewing him as a top-order contender in the Playing XI.

Rahul scored a half-century in the first ODI against Bangladesh but the Indian lost the game. Moreover, once Suryakumar Yadav is back, it remains important to see whether Rahul manages to find a place in the XI, especially once Ravindra Jadeja returns in the middle order. With so much competition for the opening place, Rahul’s place in India’s Playing XI for the World Cup seems in some serious doubt, reckons former batting coach Sanjay Bangar.

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Sanjay Bangar reckons that Ishan Kishan’s recent double-century against Bangladesh in Chattogram promises to close the lid on Rahul’s chances. Barring Ishan, Shikhar Dhawan is also in the mix, as are Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill. With so many promising young cricketers performing consistently, Bangar feels Rahul will not have it easy making the Indian Playing XI when the World Cup reaches India later this year.

During a recent chat with ESPNCricinfo, Sanjay Bangar said, “Taking into account the kind of success that Ishan Kishan has had at the top of the order which means KL Rahul will have to fight for a place in the playing XI, and hence I feel that KL Rahul may not be part of the playing XI in 50-over cricket at the moment.”

In 2022, Team India witnessed 7 different captains, Rahul included, and Sanjay Bangar believes that with Hardik Pandya now permanently leading the T20I team in the absence of Rohit Sharma, Rahul has dropped in the pecking order, which will make it all the more difficult for him to make the spot his own in the team.

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Talking about the captaincy, Sanjay Bangar said, “Hardik Pandya’s career graph as far as his captaincy is concerned is pretty good because the way he led his team to the IPL championship was fabulous. So, it meant in the longer run he is going to be a strong contender to take over the reins from Rohit Sharma whenever the situation arises.”