Krishnamachari Srikkanth, a former top selector for Team India, has advised the team’s management to start youthful opener Shubman Gill rather than the batter who isn’t playing, KL Rahul. At the present Border Gavaskar Cup, Team India secured an unbeatable 2-0 victory, but Rahul’s performance has been a huge worry for Rohit Sharma’s group. Rahul is no longer the team’s vice-captain, but he has managed to save his spot in the squad for the third and fourth Tests against Australia. But, the player’s captain Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid have supported him.
Rahul would have been advised to take a vacation from the sport, according to Srikkanth, if he had been the chief selector. “I have tremendous admiration for the class of Rahul, in fact I call him Rolls Royce Rahul…but it is just not happening for him at the moment. If I was the chairman of selectors, I would have gone up to him and told him to take a break for a while,” Srikkanth told TOI.
Speaking further on Rahul’s struggles, Srikkanth said that it is more of a mental battle, rather than a technical deficiency in his game. “I cannot pinpoint a technical deficiency in his game at the moment. I think this is more mental and all Rahul needs to do is take a break and sort his mind out. There’s no reason why he can’t come back all guns blazing. But with all due respect to Rahul, it is time to play Shubman. You can’t keep a player waiting when he is in the form of his life,” Srikanth added.