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KL Rahul (Source: Twitter)
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KL Rahul (Source: Twitter)India ended their tour of New Zealand on a bitter note as they lost the three-match ODI series 1-0. After being rested for the entire New Zealand series, KL Rahul is back at the helm for India in the ODI series against Bangladesh. Senior players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be back for the Men in Blue.
Rahul will open the batting with Rohit Sharma, and it is unlikely that Shikhar Dhawan will not get the nod ahead of vice-captain Rahul. Rohit, Kohli, Rahul and Dhawan last played together in an ODI in March 2021.
Rahul has not been in the best of form recently, since the 20-20 World Cup 2022 where he scored only 128 runs in six matches at an average of 21.33 and a strike rate of 120.75. His form has looked patchy, and he has lacked the consistency that he once had.
He has to have a fearless approach in ODI cricket: Maninder Singh
Talking about Rahul’s dwindling form, recently in an interaction with Sony Sports Network, this is what former India spinner Maninder Singh had to say - "KL Rahul seems to have gone into a shell since the Zimbabwe series. He has to come out of it as we know what kind of a classy cricketer he is. You can't even use up 5-6 overs upfront in ODI cricket. He needs to take a fearless approach in T20 and ODI cricket. You can be dropped even if you're a vice-captain."
Rahul just had two half-centuries to his name in the 20-20 World Cup 2022 that was held in Australia. In the Asia Cup 2022, he scored just 132 runs from five matches at an average of 26.40 and at a strike rate of 122.22. He has not been having the best of times when it comes to scoring runs and has failed to deliver with the bat for the Men in Blue.
The India vice-captain has also captained the side at times which has, in likelihood, put some pressure on him. There has been some talk going around that Rahul has been getting free passage despite a dry run of form just because he is the vice-captain of the side.