I call him Rolls Royce...but he needs a break: Ex-Indian cricket team chief selector's message for struggling opener

Former Indian team opener and former chief selector, Krishnamchari Srikkanth stated that he would have asked KL Rahul to get a break and get back fresh as he thinks that the right-handed opener doesn’t have technical errors, it’s just the psychological aspect that he is struggling from. 

For a player like Rahul who has smashed six out of his seven Test hundreds away from home and in assorted conditions in Australia, South Africa, England, West Indies, and Sri Lanka. But now it can be clearly seen that there is a decline in form. He has an average of only 33.44 on 47 Tests which really doesn’t isn’t justified for such a talented player. The question now stands how long does the selection committee keep continuing with Rahul in the Playing XI when other in-form potential talents like Shubman Gill are on the list. So is the judgement taken just on the ground of talent and not performance?

KL Rahul has the highest score of 23 in his previous 10 innings in the longest format of the game. Even when he was riding on the away centuries, he never managed to reach that level where he can make a series of his own. This is one of the major reasons that the fans and former cricketers have been impatient with the talented all-rounder. 

Skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid have already committed that they would keep their hopes on KL Rahul but the selectors by their action of removing him from the vice-captain’s role for the other two Tests remaining against Australia in the Borde-Gavaskar Trophy, have been some visible indications that his long debacle is coming to an end.

India’s opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth compared KL Rahul with a ‘Rolls Royce’ and said he is a big fan of the opener but presently he needs to spend some time away from the cricketing world. 

“I have tremendous admiration for the class of Rahul, in fact, I call him Rolls Royce Rahul... but it is just not happening for him at the moment. If I was the chairman of selectors, I would have gone up to him and told him to take a break for a while,” Srikkanth said.

Srikkanth who was also the chief selector during the tenure when India won the 2011 World Championship, said that Shubman Gill should start with the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma in the third Test in Indore which will start from March 1. “But with all due respect to Rahul, it is time to play Shubman. You can’t keep a player waiting when he is in the form of his life,” Srikkanth commented.

The 1983 World Championship winner could not discover any technical errors in Rahul's batting. “I cannot pinpoint a technical deficiency in his game at the moment. I think this is more mental and all Rahul needs to do is take a break and sort his mind out. There’s no reason why he can’t come back with all guns blazing,” Srikkanth said.