India Squad WTC Final: IPL 2023 – The next three ODIs and the IPL 2023 will decide the fate of KL Rahul. The sacked vice-captain is set to lose his spot in the India Playing XI for 3rd Test. However, the team management still trusts his abilities in overseas conditions. But for Rahul, it won’t be an easy task if Shubman Gill gets runs in the last two Tests of Border Gavaskar Trophy. InsideSport already reported that Rahul will lose his spot to Gill in the Indore & Ahmedabad Tests. Now, the selectors are mulling whether he should play in Irani Cup instead. Follow India vs Australia LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
To get on the flight to England for WTC Final, Rahul needs to score tons of runs in the 3 ODIs and the IPL.
“He will remain in the plans if he gets his form back. The only chance he will have are the ODI series and the IPL. But of course, if Shubman gets runs, it will complicate squad selection,” a senior official told InsideSport on Monday.
India Squad WTC Final: IPL 2023 form set to DECIDE KL Rahul’s fate in WTC Final squad, selectors mull sending SACKED vice-captain to play Irani Cup, Follow LIVE Updates
The Shiv Sundar Das-led selection committee will pick the squad for WTC Final (if India qualify) during IPL. But a lot will ride on Rahul’s form. With Shubman in terrific form and Mayank Agarwal also getting his form back, Rahul is running against time. BCCI will have to submit the squad at least a month before the WTC Final (June 7).
With confidence low after facing the axe as the vice-captain, Rahul is now facing a race against time. The best way to hit form would have been to play domestic cricket. However, the domestic season is almost over. The only Irani Cup match starts on March 1 and the selectors will have to take a call on whether to send the opener to play the one-off match instead of remaining with the squad for Australia series.
“It is up to the selectors and the team management to decide whether Rahul should play in Irani. Ideally, he should have played to get back to his rhythm in red ball cricket. But the ODI series and the IPL are good parameters too,” the official said.
India Squad WTC Final: IPL 2023 form set to DECIDE KL Rahul’s fate in WTC Final squad, selectors mull sending SACKED vice-captain to play Irani Cup, Follow LIVE Updates
There is a view that KL Rahul has an outstanding overseas Test record. But stats speak otherwise. He has a test avg of 30 overseas in 56 innings. He has scored 6 overseas centuries but followed it up with a string of low scores that’s why averaging 30. Let’s look at a few others pic.twitter.com/MAvHM01TcY
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) February 20, 2023
KL Rahul in last 12 months:
- Rahul has endured a wretched form in Tests.
- He has even failed to cross the 30-run mark, scoring 8, 12, 10, 22, 23, 10, 2, 20, 17, 1 in his last 10 innings.
- In the ongoing series against Australia, he has only managed 20, 17 & 1.
- The stats are abysmal in the last 12 months too. He has managed an average of just 13.57.
- R Ashwin (37.00) and Mohammad Shami (21.80) have a better average than the opener in those 12 months.
Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad has urged KL Rahul to snub IPL to play in County Cricket and get back to form. However, it’s unlikley that BCCI will allow one of the star players to leave IPL for County cricket.
“With KL being retained for the remaining 2 test matches, if he is picked in the playing 11, Indore is his best chance of coming back to form and silencing critics like me. Else needs to play county cricket, perform well and make a comeback in the Test side,” Prasad said on Twitter.
India Squad WTC Final: IPL 2023 form set to DECIDE KL Rahul’s fate in WTC Final squad, selectors mull sending SACKED vice-captain to play Irani Cup, Follow LIVE Updates
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