(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has asked for clarity on KL Rahul’s exclusion for Afghanistan T20Is, opining that he can be made to bat in the middle-order.
Like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, KL Rahul last featured in a T20I for India in November 2022 when the Men in Blue faced England in the World Cup semi-final that year.
However, both Rohit and Virat have made a comeback to the T20I set-up. The senior duo is in the 15-member squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, starting on January 11 in Mohali.
“Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were India’s top three in the 2022 World Cup. Among them, KL Rahul has been dropped or has not been picked, there is no clarity, but he is not there. There can be a discussion on that as well,” Chopra said as quoted on his YouTube channel.
“His strike rate in T20Is is more than 135, so that is not bad. There are no vacant opening positions in any case, and you play him in the middle in ODIs as well, so you could have done that here too. You play him down the order even in Tests now. However, you said you need to make some change at least,” he added.
Rahul can be back in the mix if he performs well in the upcoming IPL season as India are still searching for a wicket-keeper.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, W Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.