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Cricket Players'I felt so sorry for him. If I was captain...': Clarke's out of the box suggestion to end India star's woeful run
India have made a couple of changes to the squad for the first two Tests after going 2-0 up in the four-match series.
India made a couple of changes to their squad for the third Test after going 2-0 up in their ongoing four-match series against Australia. India have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth time in a row after racing to victories in the first two Tests with their spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin proving to be utterly dominant.
It has been a rather different story on the first day of the third Test though. India batted first and were all out for just 109 runs after which a half century from Usman Khawaja heled Australia take a 47-run lead. India brought in Umesh Yadav for Mohammed Shami, who had been rested. They also brought in Shubman Gill for under-fire opener KL Rahul, who had been stripped of his vice-captaincy of the team after his poor form continued in the second Test.
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke, however, has said that India skipper Rohit Sharma can back Rahul considering the fact that they are winning at the moment. “I really like KL Rahul. He is a great young man and an extremely gifted player. India is winning at the moment so if I was the captain, I would be fighting for him. I would be saying, we are winning, I know he is not at his best but we can afford to keep him in the team right now,” said Clarke on RevSportz.
“He is a good player, he will train hard enough and he is going to come back for us. If the team is winning I think he can be keeping players that aren't performing for a little bit longer. So I will be fighting for KL Rahul.”
Clarke said that Rahul has hardly had any luck going his way. Rahul firmly fended away a delivery from Nathan Lyon and the ball ricocheted off Peter Handscomb's pad at short leg and ballooned to a simple catch for Alex Carey. "I felt so sorry for him the way he got out. Sometimes when it rains, it pours. You look around the field when batting and it feels like there are 20 fielders. Other times it doesn't matter, every time you hit it, seems to go into a gap.
“That is what form is about. Over a long period of time, your best players find a way through it. If India feel Rahul is going to be one of their best players, you have got to keep the faith. Of course it is mental, you just need a little bit of luck. That ball that you nick goes to the keeper, just a bit wider, it goes for four. Or that one that he hit into the bat pad and got caught, that could go for a one or two. Just some luck along the way. I think Rahul is a super player," said Clarke.
