New Delhi. Former Team India captain Sunil Gavaskar has made a big prediction regarding KL Rahul’s tour to Australia. Gavaskar is confident that KL Rahul can perform well on Australian wickets like he did in the South Africa tour. Rahul can be made Yashasvi Jaiswal’s partner in the first test match. India has two options in the form of Abhimanyu Easwaran and KL Rahul in the opening. At present, the team management seems to be in favor of Rahul, who has already opened the innings for India in Test matches. And last year he scored a memorable century in Centurion. However, despite playing 53 tests, his performance has not been consistent.
Sunil Gavaskar said in a special interview to PTI before the first Test of the series, ‘Lokesh Rahul (KL Rahul) scored one of the best centuries while batting in South Africa last year. From what I have seen, it would not be a problem for them to do the same here too. Like all batsmen, he will also need a little luck in the beginning and if he gets it, he can give a solid start to the team. Gavaskar, one of the most respected figures in Indian cricket, has always believed that in Test cricket, the team should always play its best bowlers, even if it means fielding two spinners.
‘You have to choose your best bowlers for the Test match’
There is every possibility of Andhra all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy getting a chance in the Indian team, who will also play the role of the fourth fast bowler. Gavaskar said, ‘I believe that you have to choose your best bowlers for a Test match, no matter how the pitch behaves. Bowlers like Ashwin and Jadeja together have taken around 900 wickets. Together they have scored more than half a dozen Test centuries. Even if he does not get much help from the pitch, with his skill and experience he can slow down the pace of scoring and put pressure on the batsmen.
‘Team India has forgotten the defeat against New Zealand’
‘Little Master’ Gavaskar, who has seen a lot of changes as a player and then as an analyst, does not want to worry about what is going to happen in the future. Asked how difficult the transition would be, he said, ‘I don’t think anyone in the team is looking that far ahead and the focus is on this Test series, especially the first few Tests which will be important.’ Gavaskar is also confident that India’s talented team has left behind the 0-3 defeat in the home series against New Zealand and its focus is completely on the upcoming five-match series. He said, ‘Just as a batsman is trained to forget the previous ball and concentrate on the next ball, similarly good teams also forget what happened in the previous Test match and concentrate on the next match.’
Tags: IND vs AUS, KL Rahul, sunil gavaskar
FIRST PUBLISHED: November 21, 2024, 21:27 IST