After being rested for the entire white-ball series in New Zealand, opener KL Rahul is set to spearhead the batting attack of the Men In Blue against Bangladesh. Team India badly missed the services of batting superstars Rahul, Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma as the Shikhar Dhawan-led side suffered a 1-0 series defeat to Kane Williamson's New Zealand.
Even though stand-in skipper Dhawan is included in the ODI squad, it is highly unlikely that the veteran opener will open the innings with skipper Rohit against the hosts. India's all-format opener Rahul is also the designated vice-captain of the Indian side in the limited-overs format. The Rahul Dravid-coached side last played Rohit, Dhawan, Kohli, and Rahul in an Indian ODI XI together in March 2021.
Sharing his views about Rahul's recent form in a media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network, former Indian cricketer Maninder Singh advised the Indian vice-captain to adopt a fearless approach in white-ball cricket. The former cricketer also opined that even a vice-captain can get dropped from the Indian team.
"KL Rahul seems to have gone into a shell since the Zimbabwe series. He has to come out of it as we know what kind of a classy cricketer he is. You can't even use up 5-6 overs upfront in ODI cricket. He needs to take a fearless approach in T20 and ODI cricket. You can be dropped even if you're a vice-captain," Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}"KL Rahul seems to have gone into a shell since the Zimbabwe series. He has to come out of it as we know what kind of a classy cricketer he is. You can't even use up 5-6 overs upfront in ODI cricket. He needs to take a fearless approach in T20 and ODI cricket. You can be dropped even if you're a vice-captain," Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}Indian vice-captain Rahul scored 128 runs in six innings with a strike rate of nearly 120 at the T20 World Cup 2022. The premier batter notched up two half-centuries at the showpiece event in Australia. India were outplayed by eventual champions England in the semi-final stage of the T20 World Cup. The 30-year-old has scored 1665 runs in 45 ODIs for India. The Rahul-starrer side will meet hosts Bangladesh in the 1st ODI on Sunday.