[Watch] KL Rahul visits Shree Mahakaleshwar temple with Athiya Shetty ahead of 3rd IND vs AUS Test
Team India opener KL Rahul and his actress wife Athiya Shetty visited the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva ahead of the upcoming third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia.
In a video that surfaced on social media on Sunday, February 26, Rahul can be seen performing rituals alongside Athiya. He was dressed in traditional attire and was captured performing puja at the Jyotirling temple.
You can watch the video of KL Rahul's temple visit below:
KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty at the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple. https://t.co/KQ1q04nuYg
Rahul has come under scrutiny for his poor form with the bat in the ongoing four-match Test series against Australia. The right-handed batter has scored just 38 runs in three innings at an underwhelming average of 12.66.
After failing to impress in the first two matches, the senior batter was also sacked as the vice-captain of the Test team by the national selectors ahead of the remaining fixtures.
"Now, he's not the vice-captain, it has to be team management's decision" - Ravi Shastri on KL Rahul's place in the playing XI
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri recently commented on KL Rahul losing the Test vice-captaincy. He emphasized that there isn't a need to appoint a vice-captain for a home series.
The cricketer-turned-commentator stated that this would allow the team management to drop an out-of-form player, as his place won't be certain in the side just because of the leadership position.
Shastri pointed out that while Rahul has struggled to get going, Shubman Gill has been in tremendous form and deserves a look-in. Speaking on the ICC Review, he explained:
"The team management will decide (the vice-captain). They know his form, they know his mental state. They know how they should be watching someone like Shubman Gill. I, for one, always had the belief (to) never appoint a vice-captain for India.
"I would rather go with by best XI, and if captain has to leave the field, you'd zero in on a player that can take over at the time, simply because you don't need to create complications."
India’s squad for 3rd & 4th Test vs Australia
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, S Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, R Jadeja, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead over Australia in the four-match series and, with that, have also retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth straight time. The third Test between the two nations will be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore from Wednesday, March 1.