Statistical Analysis: KL Rahul and Gautam Gambhir after their first 25 Test matches
KL Rahul, the talented explosive batsmen, is currently going through a rough patch as the English conditions continue to give him some hard times out there at the crease. In the eight innings that he has batted, he has scored only 113 runs with a poor average of 14.1.
Obviously, he is currently the hunting pitch for a large number of Indian supporters owing to poor showings with the blade, especially when the team needed him to deliver. However, it doesn't mean he is suitable only for the shorter formats of the game. He has done well in a number of Test matches, both at home and away Tests but unfortunately, English conditions have been some tough tests for him to pass as Rahul's struggles at England continue.
Test cricket opening has been a major debate for India for quite some time now. The duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir has done tremendously well for Indian Test cricket in the past. Gautam Gambhir played 58 Test matches from Nov 2004 to Aug 2014 and scored 4154 runs that include 8 centuries, 22 half-centuries and a double ton at an average of 41.95.
Gautam Gambhir, the number one Test cricketer in ICC Rankings back in 2009 was an opener India could bank on. An aggressive player by nature, Gambhir showed exceptional temperament and patience in the Test sector. He batted for hours when India needed crucial partnerships right from the get-go as well as punished the bowlers whenever the team needed to score at a faster rate.
KL Rahul, who made his Test debut back in 2014, has played 25 Test matches so far. His aggressive style of batting is something he has in common with Gautam Gambhir. In this piece, we will compare the statistics of these two talented openers when they respectively played 25 Test matches for India.
As we can see here, Gambhir's performance was better than Rahul's by the 25th match milestone. He scored more runs and averaged better.
A major similarity between these two openers is the lack of good performances in Test cricket against England in England. Gautam played 5 Test matches in England during his entire Test career out of which 3 came in 2011 and 2 in 2014. In the 10 innings he played, he managed to score only 127 runs at a poor average of 12.7. KL Rahul is going through something similar as he has scored 113 runs in 8 innings at an average of 14.1
Apart from their respective struggles in England, there are some other similarities between these two. Other than highly regarded for being players of brilliant technique, sublime strokes and excellent footwork, Gautam Gambhir holds the record for 11 consecutive Test fifties and KL Rahul holds for 7 which speak volume for the consistency they displayed at some point in their respective Test careers.