"Why do you suddenly want him to bat in the middle order?" - Aakash Chopra on KL Rahul
Aakash Chopra has questioned the Indian team management's reported decision to consider KL Rahul only as a middle-order batsman.
Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the five-Test series against England due to shin splints. Reports have suggested that India had requested Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal be flown over to England upon the completion of the Sri Lanka tour. They also maintained that Rahul is only in the scheme of things as a middle-order batsman.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra expressed astonishment about KL Rahul only being considered for a middle-order position. He said:
"KL Rahul is also present there but it has been said that he will not open. Team management has already declared that KL Rahul is only a middle-order choice. Why do you suddenly want him to bat in the middle order?"
The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that all five of KL Rahul's Test centuries have come at the top of the order. Aakash Chopra observed:
"I mean this is surprising because he has scored five Test centuries, all came there (at the top of the order) only. I don't know, I thought he was always a backup opener but apparently he is not, even in extraordinary circumstances. It's very interesting."
Rahul has played the majority of his 36 Tests as an opener. The stylish batsman has amassed 1915 runs at a decent average of 36.82 at the top of the order.
Aakash Chopra on the selectors' decision of not sending Prithvi Shaw or Devdutt Padikkal
Aakash Chopra also spoke about selectors not acceding to India's reported demand for Shaw and Padikkal to be sent across. He said:
"When the selectors were asked to send either Prithvi Shaw or Devdutt Padikkal, who are currently in Sri Lanka, they said nothing doing and that they cannot send them. They are here for a reason and you already have replacements."
The former India opener backed the decision taken by the selectors. Chopra explained:
"If they are not sending Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal, I think it is also justified because they will play there first and Sri Lanka is still on the red list when you talk about England. A long hard quarantine, getting them ready and you don't even know whether they can play because Mayank Agarwal and Abhimanyu Easwaran are already there."
Apart from the quarantine restrictions, Shaw and Padikkal have not done anything exceptional in red-ball cricket of late. While Shaw has not played any competitive long-format cricket after looking out-of-sorts in Australia, Padikkal is yet to score a century in first-class cricket.