KL Rahul dropped from NZ ODI series because he is an opener, says Virat Kohli

[The_Odd_One]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...-odi-series/story-fn0Q0WPAEAj9hu43yyc0FM.html

KL Rahul is missing from India's ODI squad for the New Zealand series because the hosts are looking at him purely as an opener and don't want to forecefully make him another middle-order option. Captain Virat Kohli explained on the eve of the first ODI in Mumbai that India were already carrying three openers - Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane - so it was decided to give Rahul more time in the first-class circuit.

This series, Dinesh Karthik has come in for KL. We felt KL, because he opens mostly, we don't want to have a situation like Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) was going through in between - having to play in the middle order forcefully because of what the top order was doing," Kohli said. "We thought it's better that he (Rahul) gets some game time in the first-class level so we got in Dinesh who has always played in the middle order. He is more comfortable and more aware of how to bat in the middle order.

Not sure if it makes any sense when a TTF like Dinesh Karthik has replaced a promising young batsman like KL.

 

[Ab Fan]

Time has come for them to prepare for WC 2019 and when you bring TTF like Karthik, it makes no sense. The middle order is weak.

Why not play Rahul at 4 to strengthen that middle order.

The batting looks all to be Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli now.Get the top3 and you won it.

 

[R0H1T]

Time has come for them to prepare for WC 2019 and when you bring TTF like Karthik, it makes no sense. The middle order is weak.

Why not play Rahul at 4 to strengthen that middle order.

The batting looks all to be Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli now.Get the top3 and you won it.

It makes sense if you're strongman Shastri, otherwise this is a dumb move!

3 is better, Kohli definitely has issues with the moving ball, why risk it when you have better batters to face the new ball than him?

 

[Ab Fan]

It makes sense if you're strongman Shastri, otherwise this is a dumb move!

3 is better, Kohli definitely has issues with the moving ball, why risk it when you have better batters to face the new ball than him?

Kohli is best at 3.He is hailed by his fans as already the greatest batsmen of all time batting at no.3. No point in changing that at all.

We don't have any good batsmen at 4 and lower middle order is also not dependable. Rahul would boost up things there. There are so many contenders at the top but middle order looks really weak.

 

[R0H1T]

Kohli is best at 3.He is hailed by his fans as already the greatest batsmen of all time batting at no.3. No point in changing that at all.

We don't have any good batsmen at 4 and lower middle order is also not dependable. Rahul would boost up things there. There are so many contenders at the top but middle order looks really weak.

His fans aren't going to bat for him in the middle, if Kohli being at 4 strengthens the middle/lower order then he should settle down the order. It doesn't matter what the stats say, didn't we hear that we don't play for stats anymore?

 

[Ab Fan]

His fans aren't going to bat for him in the middle, if Kohli being at 4 strengthens the middle/lower order then he should settle down the order. It doesn't matter what the stats say, didn't we hear that we don't play for stats anymore?

He is best suited to no.3. Why fix things which are not broken? He will not be able to impact games much better batting at 4. In tests, he shouldn't be no.3.

 

[R0H1T]

He is best suited to no.3. Why fix things which are not broken? He will not be able to impact games much better batting at 4. In tests, he shouldn't be no.3.

Maybe you've forgotten the time when he came in after GG, India had better openers then but his impact was in no way lesser than it is now, especially during a chase.

 

[austerlitz]

Kohli shastri bottled this.Rahul even at 4 or 5 is better than yadav.

 

[Hamza_]

These guys are treating Rahul like Haris Sohail.

 

[Hermoine Green]

Weird logic from Kohli, Rahul is a supreme talent, needs to be polished. What's the point in giving chances to DK?

 

[Hasan123]

KL is a monster of a player. India need to find a way to get him in the squad.

 

[Napa]

Dhawan, Dhoni and Karthik all need to be gone by WC 2019. They will be too old by then.

 

[Ab Fan]

Kohli shastri bottled this.Rahul even at 4 or 5 is better than yadav.

Yadav? Lol

 

[austerlitz]

Furious why this idiot yadav is playing over rahul,no feet movement .Typical hacker.Only good for IPL and flat low bounce pitches.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Rahul is an incredible potential.

You gotta back him.

He is an all conditions, all formats player.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Rahane over Rahul...



Damn Rahane scored runs at the precise moment to cement his place.

 

[The_Odd_One]

It's worse than Hafeez's selection in the Pakistani team.

Mind boggling that a batsman of KL's class can't find a spot in this batting unit.

 

[CricFan2012]

It's worse than Hafeez's selection in the Pakistani team.

Mind boggling that a batsman of KL's class can't find a spot in this batting unit.

Agreed, Rahul is going to be a top 5 bat in a couple of years time

 

[Langau]

If they had to drop rahul then they should have included pandey instead of karthik. Dk will be a liability on the team and they already have jadhav as a liability.

 

[giri26]

Poor decision by Kohli and Shastri. The reason does not make sense. KL Rahul was the back up opener for Rohit/Dhawan and now they drop him because Rahane scored some runs. What was the reason to not play Rahul in the T20? Dhawan has a very poor record in T20's and playing him ahead of Rahul against Australia shows poor judgement by the team management.