"Looks like India will move on from KL Rahul and give Shubman Gill the chance" - Aakash Chopra
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra was vocal about why former cricketers like Venkatesh Prasad questioned KL Rahul's selection in the middle of matches.
However, after Rahul's failure in the second innings of the second Test against Australia in Delhi, things aren't looking great for the opener. He was also stripped of the vice-captaincy role when the Indian squad for the final two Tests against the Aussies was announced.
This made Chopra feel that the team management might be looking to move on from Rahul.
In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda on the sidelines of the JioCinema CricStream showcase, here's what Aakash Chopra said about the KL Rahul situation:
"It looks like India will move on from KL Rahul and give Shubman Gill the chance to open. But the truth is that you will play Tests in Indore and Ahmedabad and then go to The Oval for the WTC Final where the conditions would be completely different."
I would play KL Rahul in English conditions over Shubman Gill: Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra shed light on the difference between the Indian conditions and the ones that they will face if they make it into the World Test Championship final. The summit clash is notably scheduled to take place at The Oval in June.
Given Rahul's record in England, Chopra suggested that he would want India to continue with Rohit Sharma and Rahul at the top.
On this, the former cricketer stated:
"If you look at the records, any day I would play Rahul in English conditions over Gill. [Rahul] Dravid and Rohit have already backed him as they said in the press conference.
"But in the end you need to score runs if you're playing for India and I feel they might have just lost their patience with Rahul for the next Test."
Rahul has scored just 38 runs in three innings in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023. India look set to pick Shubman Gill over Rahul due to the former's fine form for the third Test in Indore, according to multiple reports.
It remains to be seen how the youngster will perform after some brilliant displays in white-ball cricket this year.