In a coded tweet, another former opener from India, Wasim jaffer, urged the alternate captain Ajinkya rahane choose Rahul and Shubman gill for the CGM test. Another former India starter, Gautam Gambhir feels Rahul should hit No. 5.
Unsurprisingly, after the chaotic debacle of India’s second entry into Adelaide, there is a lot of noise around Rahul.
The only thing Rahul infallibly does, whenever he hits a three-digit mark, is to close his ears. His mantra is to block out noise. Even if the tone of the crowd is complimentary.
For someone who has also received its fair share of criticism, rightly so, for being inconsistent, especially in the longer format, that ability to block out noise is crucial.
The attribute will be put to the test again on Saturday, in one of the largest sports arenas, the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Yes, the same MCG who saw Rahul take his first steps into international cricket six years ago and play three forgettable strokes, two of which resulted in his firing Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Johnson respectively. His contribution to the team was 3 and 1, in addition to shedding abundant tears on the fifth day after skipper MS Dhoni retired from the crash test.
He must have thought those two shots were good enough to be banished to the anonymous venues of national cricket where he had set fire to the scoresheets. Fortunately, he found a fan of his ‘intention’ in the new Virat Kohli pattern. In addition to the positive attitude, Rahul also shared the patron’s love for tattoos and toned six-packs. That is why he is often trolled because fans feel that the patron sees in Rahul, a fan boy.
But that would be unfair to the Karnataka stylist, as he has the game to excel, which he showed in Test 2 in Sydney, where he hit his usual spot as a starter instead of No. 6 and broke a ton. They weren’t his usual hundred counterattacks, but a laborious one, lasting nearly six hours.
More tons of testing followed in Colombo and Jamaica, and India thought they had found a pedigree opener abroad. But Rahul could also frustrate you after spending a fabulous half century finding curious ways to get fired or hurt.
Throughout this time, his test hitting was marked with white ball gems, such as a century into ODI’s debut in Harare and a rampant T20 hundred against the West Indies in Florida.
“ He’s the real deal, ” said one of Rahul, especially after his 199 vs England in Test 5 in Chennai, a class-filled entry, but ended after playing one of the dumbest shots you could ever see. with an Adil Rashid. long jump.
Against Australia in 2017, a series expected to be dominated by Virat Kohli, Rahul stepped forward and, despite not having a hundred to show, his six-fifties, especially the twin efforts in a diabolical field in Chinnaswamy, they helped India win a low scoring game.
However, all of India was looking forward to 2018. Three tough tours of South Africa, England and Australia garnered attention. If a starter is to earn bread and butter, it is on courses like these that the terrain was expected to be rough and the ball would move.
Rahul fell either through notches from behind or on the inside, pushing the ball into the stumps. He scored a hundred in the Oval, but by then the series had been lost and serious self-doubt had settled. His feet, the way he lowered the bat and his mind, everything was in shambles. Changing it from number 1 to number 3 didn’t help their cause either.
That he went to Australia despite having a bad series against the West Indies at home was a miracle. The team leadership stayed true to Rahul in the first two tests in Adelaide and Perth. But that faith was not rewarded and patience with him eventually ran out. Ironically, on terrain that saw him make his debut, Rahul lost his place to his good friend and fellow state Mayank Agarwal, who got off to a dream start to his test career.
Rahul’s form in cue ball cricket, especially in IPL, has helped him stay visible and in the reckoning, and his willingness to hold grounds has also secured his position in the shorter formats. But it is the success of the red ball that he values and seeks.
And what better terrain to hit a reset button in his test career than ‘The G’, the terrain where he represented India for the first time and the terrain that saw him fall from the side?
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