IND V AUS 2020: ‘I would prefer to go with KL Rahul, I am a huge fan of him’ - Dilip Vengsarkar on who should open with Mayank Agarwal
Former India batsman Dilip Vengsarkar has picked KL Rahul as his choice to partner Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order in the upcoming Test series against Australia.
In a Facebook Live session with Sportskeeda’s Indranil Basu, Vengsarkar was asked to choose between Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, and Shubman Gill as the second opener.
According to the ‘Colonel’, while Prithvi Shaw is a good player square of the wicket, playing him also means taking a risk, which is why he would prefer the experienced KL Rahul. Vengsarkar explained:
“Very difficult choice to be honest (to pick the second opener). Prithvi Shaw can set the ball rolling because he is an excellent player square of the wicket. In Australian conditions, you have to bat square of the wicket. Prithvi can play a lot of shots in that area and score lots of runs. If he can going the first session itself, Australia can be straight on the backfoot. But then again, it’s a huge chance to take.”
KL Rahul has been in fantastic form, looks assured: Vengsarkar
Backing KL Rahul as the better choice, Vengsarkar opined that the 28-year-old has been in great form, and also admitted that he is a fan of the talented batsman. Vengsarkar added:
“I would prefer to go with Rahul (as the second opener) because he is an experienced player. He has been in fantastic form. I am a huge fan of Rahul. He plays so well. If you see the way he has played T20 matches or any format of the game, he looks so assured, very confident. So I would go with Rahul.”
KL Rahul made his Test debut in Australia back in 2014, in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. He had a miserable game, managing scores of only 3 and 1. However, in his very next Test at Sydney, he registered his maiden Test hundred, scoring 110
In 36 Tests, KL Rahul has 2006 runs to his name at an average of 34.58 with five hundreds and 11 fifties. He last played a Test for India in September 2019, against the West Indies at Kingston.
KL Rahul had a reasonable run of form in the limited-overs contests in Australia with one fifty each in the ODI and T20I series.