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Why is India not giving KL Rahul a consistent run?

BreadPakoda

First Class Captain
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Feb 8, 2018
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Got some tough runs in Test format and displayed solid power hitting in the shorter formats, yet finds himself dropped from even a strictly India C side even with his 50+ average and strike rate of ~150 in t20s.

What's cooking?
 
He needed that shake up.. Had grown a bit arrogant cricketing wise.
 
So you select someone like a mid-30s Dinesh Karthik in his place? Rohit easily could have given the gloves to KL or Pant.

I don't like Karthik but application wise i would take him over Rahul currently. Rahul need to work hard and not think himself of being a superstar which he is not.
 
Because they dont want to succeed. Their top3 performed really well and hence they won in SA. It won't happen always.
 
I don't like Karthik but application wise i would take him over Rahul currently. Rahul need to work hard and not think himself of being a superstar which he is not.

Well, Pandya thinks he is one too - and he isn't one yet - far from it. But his treatment is on the other extreme of the spectrum - he's been "rested" alongside other important team members.
 
Well, Pandya thinks he is one too - and he isn't one yet - far from it. But his treatment is on the other extreme of the spectrum - he's been "rested" alongside other important team members.

He is an all-rounder. And he performed decently in LOIs when compared to Rahul.
 
Rahul's last 3 T20 scores:

61 (48)
89 (49)
4 (9)

33 year old DK averages 23 and has a lower SR too.
 
He is an all-rounder. And he performed decently in LOIs when compared to Rahul.

But performance isn't a criteria, right? Its about "teaching" a lesson to folks who think they are superstars. Else, on the basis of performance Rahul deserves a spot in the T20 side.

By the way, against SA, Pandya averaged 54 with the ball and 8 with the bat in ODIs. 33 with 8+ eco with ball in T20s and made only 34 runs with the bat.
 
Karthik has been playing for India for almost 14 years and hasn't done anything special in that time - really don't understand why the selectors and management persist with him.
 
AVG of 50 and strike rate of over 150 in T20 Internationals ..can keep wickets

I don't think any international cricketer was so unfairly treated

Indian team management says there is no place in top order ..Rahul will get his chance...
but he scored quick hundred in WI batting at 4...
 
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Its all on kholee. He somehow randomly assigns roles to players that are not suited to them and is unwilling to wait for them to grow in them. He hasn't yet played a same test 11 in consecutive tests iirc. KL should be our first choice opener in tests.

In shorter formats its little tricky. KL is a opener and its hard for him to dislodge Dhawan and Rohit. but KL has more than enough skills to bat in middle order and its not like our present no 4/5/6 are setting world on fire in LO's. No harm in giving him a long run there. I just wish he had fitness to take WK job full-time.
 
KL should come in for Karthik. Problem is KL has been badly out for form in the last 1 year. He struggled both in India and away. Its as though he lost his confidence completely.

Also if KL wants a permanent spot at least in T20's, then he better get used to keeping wickets. I think he can keep wickets as he does it anyways for RCB in IPL and he does a decent job there.
 
he has lost his confidence already.. It is actually a conflict of interest for Rohit to make a call on KL's inclusion. Rahul's success will directly impact Rohit.
 
I don't understand what India are doing with him. Just play him and he will come good. An absolute monster of a player. Needs to be given consistent game time.

If not give him a Pakistani passport, I would take him :sachin
 
Its all on kholee. He somehow randomly assigns roles to players that are not suited to them and is unwilling to wait for them to grow in them. He hasn't yet played a same test 11 in consecutive tests iirc. KL should be our first choice opener in tests.

In shorter formats its little tricky. KL is a opener and its hard for him to dislodge Dhawan and Rohit. but KL has more than enough skills to bat in middle order and its not like our present no 4/5/6 are setting world on fire in LO's. No harm in giving him a long run there. I just wish he had fitness to take WK job full-time.

Kohli is not even playing the on going series, but still KL Rahul is benched. Now are you suggesting Kohli is still making a calls from comfort of his home?

Sometimes its nice to let go of your hatred and think with logic.
 
I don't understand what India are doing with him. Just play him and he will come good. An absolute monster of a player. Needs to be given consistent game time.

If not give him a Pakistani passport, I would take him :sachin

But but but you guys have No1 T20 Batsman :babar
 
Kohli is not even playing the on going series, but still KL Rahul is benched. Now are you suggesting Kohli is still making a calls from comfort of his home?

Sometimes its nice to let go of your hatred and think with logic.

Koli has massive influence on everything Indian cricket. He says and it happens. Take bcci's stance on drs for example. He said he wants it and bcci just magically let go years of resistance.
 
Although Kohli is an intelligent batsman, he's not an intelligent captain, coach is a yes man to him and is irrelevant.
 
I honestly don't get the KL treatment, any other team in the world would carve out a spot for him in almost every format to invest in him, he is THAT good.

The likes of Iyer etc are so unimpressive compared to Rahul, the kid has everything.

He has the skills, the environment, he just needs the backing and I don't get why he isn't getting it.

I'd imagine Kohli would back him similar to how he's backed Hardik and hope he can become one of the stars he helped nurture to the top but seems he just doesn't see KL in the same light.
 
Because even Indian C team has a power packed batting lineup. Had he played for Pakistan, he would have been a legend already.
 
Kohli is a clueless captain. KL should bat at 4 in both ODIs and T20s. This guy scored a hundred chasing 245 in a T20 batting at 4 and also scored two 50s in his last three T20s. Watched him speak during the match yesterday, looked very depressed. Feeling sorry for him.
 
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Kohli has his own issues with captaincy. He seem to favour a few players and keeps playing them no matter what happens. This adamant behaviour is what cost us the test series in SA. KL Rahul is not coming back into the team for sometime now. He got injured at a wrong time and lost his spot in the X1. People talk about his failures but when you are under the pump and you know that a bad performance can cost you the spot, you are not your confident self. Kohli provides that vibe to lots of players in the X1 unless you are Rohit, Dhawan and Pandya.
 
While Kl Rahul is a good talent but definitely not that good as some people are making him out to be. List A average of 38 with SR of 74 is not an indication of next viv richards. Currently he is averaging 35 which is not bad with the SR of 80 in ODIs. In tests he looks like a better prospect, in modern era of LOIs he is just very limited.

He has limitations in stroke play one odd innings against mighty WI doesnt manifest anything especially when posters dont rate Babar's number of hundreds against WI.
 
Because even Indian C team has a power packed batting lineup. Had he played for Pakistan, he would have been a legend already.

That's not true. We are far from power packed.

Manish Pandey is consistent but not explosive. Rest in the middle order aren't doing any wonders.
 
While Kl Rahul is a good talent but definitely not that good as some people are making him out to be. List A average of 38 with SR of 74 is not an indication of next viv richards. Currently he is averaging 35 which is not bad with the SR of 80 in ODIs. In tests he looks like a better prospect, in modern era of LOIs he is just very limited.

He has limitations in stroke play one odd innings against mighty WI doesnt manifest anything especially when posters dont rate Babar's number of hundreds against WI.

He's pretty decent at T20. Avg of 50+ with Sr of ~150. Last 3 T20 scores before being dropped:

61 (48)
89 (49)
4 (9)

Guess he needs a very good IPL.
 
While Kl Rahul is a good talent but definitely not that good as some people are making him out to be. List A average of 38 with SR of 74 is not an indication of next viv richards. Currently he is averaging 35 which is not bad with the SR of 80 in ODIs. In tests he looks like a better prospect, in modern era of LOIs he is just very limited.

He has limitations in stroke play one odd innings against mighty WI doesnt manifest anything especially when posters dont rate Babar's number of hundreds against WI.

Don't go by his list A stats. He was a test player first, but completely transformed himself. I remember him going at a snail's pace batting at 3 for SRH in 2014. But two seasons later, he was striking in 160s for RCB. He has a much more range of shots than Babar. Did Babar ever scored a hundred in 46 balls? He doesn't have any limitations. Don't be biased against him just because he is compared to Babar.
 
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He's pretty decent at T20. Avg of 50+ with Sr of ~150. Last 3 T20 scores before being dropped:

61 (48)
89 (49)
4 (9)

Guess he needs a very good IPL.

Yes but his T20 performances were against WI and Srl which are not accepted by some people, that is why Babar's avg of 50 above and SR o 84 is not rated by those same people.

Though Babar also scored a 100 in Aus.
 
Don't go by his list A stats. He was a test player first, but completely transformed himself. I remember him going at a snail's pace batting at 3 for SRH in 2014. But two seasons later, he was striking in 160s for RCB. He has a much more range of shots than Babar. Did Babar ever scored a hundred in 46 balls? He doesn't have any limitations. Don't be biased against him just because he is compared to Babar.

That 100 was against WI which doesnt count according to some. If that counts then he needs an avg of over 50 in ODIs and SR of 84 to even compete with Babar.
 
Don't go by his list A stats. He was a test player first, but completely transformed himself. I remember him going at a snail's pace batting at 3 for SRH in 2014. But two seasons later, he was striking in 160s for RCB. He has a much more range of shots than Babar. Did Babar ever scored a hundred in 46 balls? He doesn't have any limitations. Don't be biased against him just because he is compared to Babar.

Lol! Really he doesnt have any limitations, I always wanted to see Viv Richards bat in a live match but so what I am gonna see KL Rahul. :ashwin
 
Yes but his T20 performances were against WI and Srl which are not accepted by some people, that is why Babar's avg of 50 above and SR o 84 is not rated by those same people.

Though Babar also scored a 100 in Aus.

Babar wasn't dropped after performing against them. KL was.
 
probably too many good batsmen emerging at the same time. With due course of time he will get his opportunities.
 
probably too many good batsmen emerging at the same time. With due course of time he will get his opportunities.

That's not the case though. A 33 year-old Dinesh Karthik has replaced him. Then there is Raina in the middle order too. So there are spots taken by senior players.
 
probably too many good batsmen emerging at the same time. With due course of time he will get his opportunities.

LOL at the too many "good" batsmen. Pant and Iyer are hacks, not international class. 36 year old Dhoni is clinging onto his spot with selectors saying there are no good wicket keeper batsmen to replace him. TTF Karthik seems to have cemented his place in the XI. KL is by far the best of the lot and he is no where seen in the playing XI in any format.
 
Lol! Really he doesnt have any limitations, I always wanted to see Viv Richards bat in a live match but so what I am gonna see KL Rahul. :ashwin

He doesn't expect him to be treated like superstar or of having no limitations. All he wants is chance to perform and come out of the superstar-dream and rectify the limitations. That is what (chance, an extended chance in IPL because there was not much option there as he need not had to compete with Rohit & Shastri) helped him to perform at T20 level even though he wanted to become just a test batsman!

If this is how players are treated then Kohli wouldn't have become the so-called Superstar today and Rohit wouldn't even have dreamed of his 200s...

Comparisons to Babar or anybody is irrelevant to me. I am sick of these player comparisons on PP especially between Indian and Pakistani origin because the ulterior motive is to boast the patriotic egos rather than highlighting a player's strengths & weaknesses.
 
I am afraid the Dostana between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (with a triangular affair with Shastri) is going to cost us the next two world cups and a lot of overseas test series! Kohli is probably seeing Rohit as the next captain down the line when he gets out of captaincy (I don't see him continuing captaincy till the end of his career like Dhoni)
 
Kohli is not even playing the on going series, but still KL Rahul is benched. Now are you suggesting Kohli is still making a calls from comfort of his home?

Sometimes its nice to let go of your hatred and think with logic.

Kohli's player management skills has been awful.

Because of him, we lost a winnable series in SA.

Jatt Maula likes to troll when it comes to Kohli but i think in the last post, he was 100% serious and he is right.
 
I conjured it after watching him throw his wicket away playing rash shots.

He oscillates between reckless and sublime. I dont think he is arrogant. Just has to play tight.

He is a supreme ATG level talent and instead of backing him (while giving him feedback about his performance), we are treating like a gully mohalla player.

Also the way he was dropped for T20s (inspite of performance) show bias, nepotism and politics.
 
He oscillates between reckless and sublime. I dont think he is arrogant. Just has to play tight.

He is a supreme ATG level talent and instead of backing him (while giving him feedback about his performance), we are treating like a gully mohalla player.

Also the way he was dropped for T20s (inspite of performance) show bias, nepotism and politics.

Man . I love that guy. Even sane players are poorly managed by Shastriji and Kohli. I just want him to cut off his recklessness and do well.
 
We give players like Jhadhav and Axar Patel a proper go, but KL Rahul doesn’t get half the support.

KL Rahul will easily thrash Rohit in batting comparison in the long run. Rohit was given 70 odd matches as a middle order bat and then additional run as an opener before he came good. And Rahul does not get one full series against SL and Ban.
 
We give players like Jhadhav and Axar Patel a proper go, but KL Rahul doesn’t get half the support.

KL Rahul will easily thrash Rohit in batting comparison in the long run. Rohit was given 70 odd matches as a middle order bat and then additional run as an opener before he came good. And Rahul does not get one full series against SL and Ban.

True, Rohit came good after at least 6 years of investment.
 
Kohli's player management skills has been awful.

Because of him, we lost a winnable series in SA.

Jatt Maula likes to troll when it comes to Kohli but i think in the last post, he was 100% serious and he is right.

Im not arguing his management skills which is questionable. But my point is why does he is getting blamed here when he is not even with the team ATM.

Lastly, if its his influence in the team then blame should go to BCCI for allowing such influence. They should remind Kohli and co that team is bigger than individual choice. And if BCCI cant do this then blame their incompetence and not Kohli’s arrogance. If a criminal commits crime and gets away with it then its the system that is at fault.
 
If you’re talking about the ongoing T20 series only, I agree. He should have been selected. But I’m not sure about the other formats at this point.

There was a similar debate during the SA tour. Rahul supporters went into hiding after he failed miserably. This guy was given so many chances just because of his potential.

He should give the management some reason to select him. One can’t ride the talent wave for very long without performing. If there are flaws in his batting he should return to domestic cricket. Nobody is expecting him to score centuries every time. But he has to play well enough to stay in the team, which he’s not doing.

He’s very very talented. But he’s unable to convert it into runs. Let’s hope that happens soon. He’ll get plenty of chances in the IPL and selectors will be watching.
 
He doesn't expect him to be treated like superstar or of having no limitations. All he wants is chance to perform and come out of the superstar-dream and rectify the limitations. That is what (chance, an extended chance in IPL because there was not much option there as he need not had to compete with Rohit & Shastri) helped him to perform at T20 level even though he wanted to become just a test batsman!

If this is how players are treated then Kohli wouldn't have become the so-called Superstar today and Rohit wouldn't even have dreamed of his 200s...

Comparisons to Babar or anybody is irrelevant to me. I am sick of these player comparisons on PP especially between Indian and Pakistani origin because the ulterior motive is to boast the patriotic egos rather than highlighting a player's strengths & weaknesses.

Agreed. Good, thoughtful and unbiased post.
 
KL was playing well until he got out :facepalm:

I think Kohli too got out in similar fashion few years back IIRC.
 
It will be the biggest failure of the Kohli era if India lets the colossal talent of KL Rahul go to waste. He is by far the best batting talent to come out of Asia since the Indian captain himself.

He has the complete game to dominate in all formats and is technically as good as it gets. However, his head is not in a good place at the moment, and the uncertainty over his position/role in the team has dented his confidence and unsettled him.

He would walk into most teams as an opener, but in Dhawan and Rohit, India have the best LOI opening in pair in the world. However, Vijay is on his last legs and KL Rahul needs to be given a long run in the Test format. He may not have done well in South Africa, but he will definitely come good if persisted with.

In Limited Overs, the only place for him is number four for now. The Dhawan and Rohit combination will be there for another 3-4 years, and he is certainly a better long-term investment at number four than Rahane.

However, it appears that the Indian management does not know what to do with him and with the likes of Gill and a few other players making a name for himself, it is likely that he might be lost in the system, which will be a big tragedy for Indian cricket.
 
It will be the biggest failure of the Kohli era if India lets the colossal talent of KL Rahul go to waste. He is by far the best batting talent to come out of Asia since the Indian captain himself.

He has the complete game to dominate in all formats and is technically as good as it gets. However, his head is not in a good place at the moment, and the uncertainty over his position/role in the team has dented his confidence and unsettled him.

He would walk into most teams as an opener, but in Dhawan and Rohit, India have the best LOI opening in pair in the world. However, Vijay is on his last legs and KL Rahul needs to be given a long run in the Test format. He may not have done well in South Africa, but he will definitely come good if persisted with.

In Limited Overs, the only place for him is number four for now. The Dhawan and Rohit combination will be there for another 3-4 years, and he is certainly a better long-term investment at number four than Rahane.

However, it appears that the Indian management does not know what to do with him and with the likes of Gill and a few other players making a name for himself, it is likely that he might be lost in the system, which will be a big tragedy for Indian cricket.

It is too early for Gill or Shaw to make it into the national side. So Rahul still has chances and can definitely turn into a permanent No. 4 if he performs consistantly. You say Rohit is the best LOI bat in the world but in that last 15 odd innings, he just has one 100. Rohit is way more inconistent than Rahul and I would definitely like to see Rahul in place of Rohit if Rohit continues to take advantage of his opening spot with abysmal porformances and lazy attitude.

My ODI team for India might look like this if Rohit continues his bad form:

Dhawan
Rahul
Kohli
Pandey
Raina
Pandya
Dhoni
Bhuvi
Kuldeep
Chahal
Bumrah

With inclusion of Raina, we have 6 bowling options and Rahul at the top can be a fantastic opening option alongside Dhawan. Pandey is proving his mettle with consistent performances already and Raina is way better than Jadhav as a package. I'm glad to see Indian Middle order problems are solving and Team looks ready for WC 2019. Rahul is a must for this LOI or Test setup and no way Gill or Shaw are going to replace him in the near future. The only worry for India right now is INCONSISTENT ROHIT SHARMA and not Rahul.
 
While Rahul has potential he is nowhere near Rohit who is one of the only 4-5 players who contribute in our current ODI team.
 
It is too early for Gill or Shaw to make it into the national side. So Rahul still has chances and can definitely turn into a permanent No. 4 if he performs consistantly. You say Rohit is the best LOI bat in the world but in that last 15 odd innings, he just has one 100. Rohit is way more inconistent than Rahul and I would definitely like to see Rahul in place of Rohit if Rohit continues to take advantage of his opening spot with abysmal porformances and lazy attitude.

My ODI team for India might look like this if Rohit continues his bad form:

Dhawan
Rahul
Kohli
Pandey
Raina
Pandya
Dhoni
Bhuvi
Kuldeep
Chahal
Bumrah

With inclusion of Raina, we have 6 bowling options and Rahul at the top can be a fantastic opening option alongside Dhawan. Pandey is proving his mettle with consistent performances already and Raina is way better than Jadhav as a package. I'm glad to see Indian Middle order problems are solving and Team looks ready for WC 2019. Rahul is a must for this LOI or Test setup and no way Gill or Shaw are going to replace him in the near future. The only worry for India right now is INCONSISTENT ROHIT SHARMA and not Rahul.

This. Though I would like to replace Dhoni with Kartik as at this point in time, he is a much better batsman than Dhoni. But we all know that is not gonna happen.:amir2
Rahul's non-entry is directly related to Rohit as he would be replacing the hitman who performs once-in-a-bluemoon on flat roads. The only way for him to perform well in the middle-order whenever he gets his chances.
 
This. Though I would like to replace Dhoni with Kartik as at this point in time, he is a much better batsman than Dhoni. But we all know that is not gonna happen.:amir2
Rahul's non-entry is directly related to Rohit as he would be replacing the hitman who performs once-in-a-bluemoon on flat roads. The only way for him to perform well in the middle-order whenever he gets his chances.
Haha! I would love to see Karthik too. Lad has done a decent job in whatever the limited opportunities he's got in the past few months. Probably he would become a permanent fixture after Dhoni retires :p but aren't we talking about pants and samsons as successors of Dhoni? India's wicket keeper problems will remain a mystery until Dhoni retires. This guy Rohit is totally blocking the way for Rahul and these days I watch Indian batting considering 1 wicket down already and start with Dhawan and Kohli. We are literally playing with 10 people squad.
 
If he keeps throwing it away, no amount of talent is going to save him.

If Gill or Shaw show promise in IPL, it will become even more harder for KL to cement his place.

If you cannot outperform Pandey/Iyer/Jadav and retain your spot, then I don't know who can help KL. As it is, he does not seem to have a strong backing in the Indian squad. Neither the coach, nor the Captain.
 
Haha! I would love to see Karthik too. Lad has done a decent job in whatever the limited opportunities he's got in the past few months. Probably he would become a permanent fixture after Dhoni retires :p but aren't we talking about pants and samsons as successors of Dhoni? India's wicket keeper problems will remain a mystery until Dhoni retires. This guy Rohit is totally blocking the way for Rahul and these days I watch Indian batting considering 1 wicket down already and start with Dhawan and Kohli. We are literally playing with 10 people squad.
Pant is a certified hack and his each international outing is reinforcing that.I have hopes on Samson but at the moment DK trumps all of them to be the next WK after Dhoni.
 
Rahul is not going to perform until Rohit is around! He had a golden chance to establish when Rohit was long injured (couple of years back), the problem was Rahul was in his first legs during that time! But he should have capitalized that opportunity if he had that supreme talent! That's how Kohli cemented his position in the early days, that's how everyone grows! Lack of focus, godfather, etc, is affecting him... The only thing in his favor is the cricket-fans (+ some sane commentators/ex-cricketers) who know his potential, Rahul should get motivated with this and see the brighter side.

I don't think Kohli is arrogant and favors only certain players. I still remember how Kohli was pumping Rahul during one of the IPL season when he was doing well, also the emotions he showed when he missed 200 in a test match. Kohli needs to see that BIG THING and then he will start backing them! He backs Chahal in the same way! Kohli has seen those monstrous shots & huge innings of Rohit Sharma, so he keeps backing him in spite of failures... But I agree Shastri is the one who shows stupidity and regionalism!
 
Squandered a golden opportunity today. Played some lose aerial shots when they were not required at all. This could have been his day, but he allowed someone else to take the limelight. Won’t help him build a case.
 
Rahul is not going to perform until Rohit is around! He had a golden chance to establish when Rohit was long injured (couple of years back), the problem was Rahul was in his first legs during that time! But he should have capitalized that opportunity if he had that supreme talent! That's how Kohli cemented his position in the early days, that's how everyone grows! Lack of focus, godfather, etc, is affecting him... The only thing in his favor is the cricket-fans (+ some sane commentators/ex-cricketers) who know his potential, Rahul should get motivated with this and see the brighter side.

I don't think Kohli is arrogant and favors only certain players. I still remember how Kohli was pumping Rahul during one of the IPL season when he was doing well, also the emotions he showed when he missed 200 in a test match. Kohli needs to see that BIG THING and then he will start backing them! He backs Chahal in the same way! Kohli has seen those monstrous shots & huge innings of Rohit Sharma, so he keeps backing him in spite of failures... But I agree Shastri is the one who shows stupidity and regionalism!

Kohli said in an interview that he backs players who can handle pressure well. Kohli himself needs to calm down a bit in finals. That's why Pandya is so valued in this Indian team. Rahul is talented but isn't that smart.
 
Really rate Rahul; seems technically very sound and can play the big shots too. And he seemed to do really well in that series against Australia against all the quicks.

Why doesn't India seem to trust him? I cannot for one moment believe that Pandey or Jadhav are better players than him. Indian posters talk about India's batting culture and nurturing of talent, but it seems unthinkable thank Pant, who looked completely unprepared for international cricket can be given a chance ahead of Rahul.
 
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