Acknowledging all the hullabaloo over KL Rahul's uninspiring run in the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship, legendary cricketer Harbhajan Singh has silenced the critics of the out-of-form batter with a hard-hitting statement on Tuesday. After playing a series of forgetful knocks in the high-profile Border-Gavaskar Trophy, opener Rahul is highly likely to make way for an in-form Shubman Gill for the 3rd Test between Australia and hosts India.
Despite his string of poor knocks, Rahul was retained in the Indian squad for the 3rd and 4th Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Though Rahul managed to keep his place in the squad, the star batter was removed as India's vice-captain in the longest format. India have not named Rohit Sharma's deputy for the upcoming two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Indore and Ahmedabad.
While former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad has called for Rahul's sacking from the squad, ex-India opener Aakash Chopra has extended his support to the under-fire batter amid the Australia series. Sharing his views about Rahul's selection saga, former Indian cricketer, Harbhajan has backed the right-handed opener to shrug off his poor form in the remainder of the Test series.
"Can we leave @klrahul alone guys ? He hasn’t done any crime. He is still a top player. He will come back strong. We all go through such patches in international cricket. He is not the first one and last one. So please respect the fact that he is our own player and have faith," Harbhajan said in his tweet.
{{/usCountry}}"Can we leave @klrahul alone guys ? He hasn’t done any crime. He is still a top player. He will come back strong. We all go through such patches in international cricket. He is not the first one and last one. So please respect the fact that he is our own player and have faith," Harbhajan said in his tweet.
{{/usCountry}}Harbhajan's tweet has arrived at a time when ex-India pacer Prasad questioned Rahul's selection multiple times on Twitter. Former Indian cricketers Prasad and Chopra are also at loggerheads over Rahul's batting slump in Test cricket. On Tuesday, Prasad turned down Chopra's invitation to have a live chat over Rahul's selection saga.
Rahul averaged only 17.12 in his eight innings last year. The star batter managed to score a half-century just once at the time. The 30-year-old captained India in the absence of Rohit during the Bangladesh series. Rahul has struggled to go past the score of 23 in his last 10 Test innings. The Indian opener registered embarrassing scores of 17 and 1 in the 2nd Test that India won by 6 wickets at Delhi. Averaging 33.44 in 47 Test matches, Rahul has amassed 2642 runs for India. The Karnataka batter has notched up seven centuries in the longest format.