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Cricket Players'Consider him one of the top batters in world...': Harbhajan's blunt reaction to KL Rahul's removal from vice-captaincy
Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh gave a rather blunt reaction to Rahul's removal from the vice-captaincy post, admitting that it hints towards the opener getting excluded for the third match against the Aussies.
India opener KL Rahul might have the backing of captain Rohit Sharma, who reminded critics of his potential, but BCCI's selection committee on Sunday seemed to have responded to the batter's poor run of form amid the rising criticism by removing him from his vice-captaincy post. There was no official announcement made, but response was noticeable from the squad announcement for the final two Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia. Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh gave a rather blunt reaction to Rahul's removal from the vice-captaincy post, admitting that it hints towards the opener getting excluded for the third match against the Aussies.
BCCI released no statement on the matter neither was such mentioned in the squad announcement release on Sunday evening. But the 'VC' tag, which was present beside Rahul's name in the India squad list for the first two Tests, was absent. BCCI however did not mention any replacement for Rahul.
The response from the BCCI came amid rising criticism of Rahul's batting. In the series so far, he has managed only 38 runs and averages 17 in the last 10 innings with just one half-century knock.
Reacting to a query on whether India should move on from Rahul in the third Test, Harbhajan, in conversation with India Today, admitted that with Rahul being removed from his role as deputy to Rohit, it is likely that in-form Shubman Gill would find a place in the India XI.
“Yes because he is longer the vice-captain now. The team was just announced now and I feel the reason why he hasn't been named the vice-captain is because Shubman Gill will be picked for the next match over KL Rahul. Gill has been in terrific form of late, in ODIs and T20Is. He became the super hero and I feel he will definitely get the chance. Also for Rahul, his dismissal today clearly shows that he is going through a rough time. He has a lot of quality and his a big player but his numbers could have been a lot better,” he said.
Harbhajan feels that Rahul should take time off from international cricket and look towards domestic appearances to regain his rhythm.
“I consider him as one of the top batters in world cricket, let alone the Indian team. I think it will be good for KL Rahul to take come time off and play some domestic cricket, try and score runs and get his confidence back up. Then bring him back, he is a quality player, there’s no doubt about it,” he added.
