No place for KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav as ex-India batter makes 2 big changes in playing XI for 2nd Test vs Australia
With patience among KL Rahul’s critics wearing thin, former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer believes it’s time for the vice-captain to make way for another superstar batter as India are eyeing a 2-0 lead over Australia in the high-profile Border-Gavaskar at Delhi.
After hammering Pat Cummins and Co. in the series opener, Rohit Sharma’s men will meet the visitors in the 2nd Test of the four-match series at the famous Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday.
Rahul, who made his return to the Indian side in the 1st Test, will be under the scanner as the vice-captain had a forgetful outing with the willow at Nagpur. The returning opener was dismissed for 20 off 71 balls and unfortunately for him, India didn’t get the chance to bat again as the Ravindra Jadeja-inspired side wrapped up the series opener inside the first three days.
Sharing his playing XI for the upcoming 2nd Test match between India and Australia, former India opener Jaffer opted to drop vice-captain Rahul and middle-order Suryakumar Yadav. The ex-India batter backed Shreyas Iyer to make a return to the side after missing the series opener due to a back injury. Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has also hinted that the star batter can ‘walk straight into the playing XI’ at Delhi.
In the absence of Iyer, top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar made his Test debut. Suryakumar was outfoxed by veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon for 7 off 14 balls in his debut Test match for India at Nagpur. While Jaffer wants Iyer to replace Suryakumar, the former cricketer feels in-form Shubman Gill should open with skipper Rohit in the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Vice-captain Rahul was preferred over Gill, who has slammed four centuries in his last seven international innings. Rahul only managed to score a half-century in 2022. The Indian vice-captain averaged 17.12 in eight innings last year. Indian opener Rahul has amassed 2624 runs in 46 Test matches for India. The 30-year-old has seven centuries and 13 fifties under his belt in red-ball cricket. The Indian vice-captain made his Test debut against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2014.