Ganguly on Rahul: ‘When you fail for a while, obviously there will be criticism’
Sourav Ganguly isn’t shocked at the criticism KL Rahul has been getting, saying “when you flop for some time, clearly there will be criticism”. Ganguly additionally said that Rahul’s concerns in Test cricket – he hasn’t crossed 25 in his last ten innings – are both technical and psychological.
“At the point when you don’t score runs in India, clearly you will get fire. KL Rahul hasn’t been the one to focus on. There have been players in the past likewise,” Ganguly told PTI in a Delhi Capitals pre-season camp. “There’s such a lot of concentration and consideration with part of tension on players. The group of board thinks he is a significant player for the group. Toward the day’s end, what coach and captain believes is important.”
In the continuous series against Australia, Rahul, opening the innings close by Rohit Sharma, has returned scores of 20, 17 and 1. His last 50 runs came in Johannesburg in January 2022, a similar series in which he scored his last Test century. After 47 Tests, he has a average of 33.44, which drops to 13.57 in the most recent a year (however the example is of only four Tests).
“He has performed [over the years] yet clearly you expect much more from a top-order hitter playing for India on the grounds that the example set by others are so high,” Ganguly said. “At the point when you flop for some time, clearly there will be criticism. I’m sure Rahul has capacity and I’m sure as and whenever he gets more open doors, he should track down ways of scoring.”
At the point when asked out if Rahul’s concerns were technical or psychological, Ganguly said, “Both.”
The criticism has been extreme. Rahul’s statement and senior partner Venkatesh Prasad has maybe been the most vocal, while Wasim Jaffer said prior in the series that Rahul would have been dropped at this point, and replaced by Shubman Gill and not been the vice captain of the team.
In that capacity, while Rahul was the vice captain for the initial two Tests, no vice captain has been named for the last two Test of the series against Australia.
“It additionall, it makes hard in the event that you are playing on these kind of pitches as the balls are turning and bouncing,” Ganguly said of Rahul’s struggles. “There’s uneven bounce and when you are not in form, it makes it significantly more harder.”
Jaffer: On the off chance that Rahul wasn’t vice captain, Gill would have replaced him
He says Shreyas Iyer coming in for Suryakumar Yadav was normal
Shubman Gill ‘has to wait’ – Sourav Ganguly
While Rahul has battled, Gill, who has been in hot form in white-ball cricket in the past and has a average of 32 from 13 Tests, the last of them was in December last year, has sat out. Ganguly recommended that Gill would need to wait for his turn.
“I’m certain when his opportunity arrives, he will likewise get a ton of chances,” Ganguly said. “I think the selectors, the skipper and the coach thinks about him and rate him exceptionally. That is the reason he is playing ODIs and T20Is, and he has played well too.
“In any case, right now, maybe message from management is that he needs to wait.”
However Rahul has confronted the brunt of the criticism, the facts confirm that the majority of India’s top-order players have made some harsh memories on the pitches of Nagpur and Delhi. While the Australians have crossed 200 only once in four innings and recorded a sub-100 all out once, none of the expert Indian hitters except Rohit have played well. India’s three top run-scorers are Rohit (183), Axar Patel (158) and Ravindra Jadeja (96), with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, of the hitters who have played the two Tests, aggregating 76 and 38, respectively, up to this point.
And keeping in mind that R Ashwin and Jadeja have been unbelievable with the ball, Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon have been amazing as well.
“These are extremely intense wickets. I found in the initial two Tests and it’s difficult,” Ganguly said. “Playing Ashwin, Jadeja, Lyon and the new person, Todd Murphy, it is never simple with odd ball turning square. There is everything occurring for spinners.”
