Australia vs India 2018-19: KL Rahul's batting woes continue as Mitchell Starc's sizzler sends him packing
India's opening batsman KL Rahul is currently undergoing the toughest phase of his career. Once dubbed as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Rahul certainly hasn't lived up to the fans' expectations in recent times.
His performance in the last 20 innings has been consistently poor, aside from a decent performance once in a blue moon.
Rahul managed to escape from being axed from the Test squad by playing a valiant knock in the last innings of a disastrous series in England. But he couldn't keep the flow of runs going after that.
With poor shot selections and an unwillingness to play the waiting game, Rahul has created a plethora of problems for himself. If this continues, we might see Rahul spiraling out of the Indian Test team very soon.
India's pacers made life difficult for Australia's batsmen on the fast and unpredictable pitch of Perth. With the visitors mopping up the Australian batting line-up for 243, it was time for the Indian batsmen to give a fitting response. The hosts have set a target of 287 runs on a challenging Perth pitch, and the Indian openers were expected to give the team a good start.
But things didn't according to plan as Rahul's batting woes continued. Mitchell Starc bowled an absolute sizzler to dismiss him in the very first over.
A pumped up Starc bowled a fiery delivery on a good length to an uncertain Rahul. With the ball moving fast and with a little hint of swing, Rahul was stuck between whether he should leave or play the ball. He ultimately chose to leave but it was too late to withdraw the bat.
Much to his dismay, the ball hit the bat and crashed into the stumps. If he had withdrawn the bat earlier, the ball would have gone to the keeper without any harm.
With talents like Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Parthiv Patel waiting in the wings, we could see Rahul warming the benches for the rest of the series and most likely be dropped from the Test squad.