Is KL Rahul Really A Test Match Material?

Rahul has had a middling Test career so far. He has featured in 36 Tests and has scored 2006 runs at an average of 34.58 with five hundreds and 11 fifties...

- Renin Wilben

Team India’s 15-member squad that was announced for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against New Zealand did not feature a few prominent names. Apart from Mayank Agarwal, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, and Washington Sundar, batsman KL Rahul also did not find a place. Rahul hasn’t played a Test match since September 2019, when he scored 13 and 6 against West Indies in the Kingston Test. The big question that then arises is - does Rahul have a future with India’s Test team?

If we look at the current Team India set-up, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are the first-choice openers while Agarwal is the preferred backup opener for now. There is no spot for Rahul in the middle-order as well with Cheteshwar Pujara, skipper Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane occupying the middle-order. If Rahul had hopes of fitting in as a wicketkeeper-batsman in the longer format of the game, those too were dashed as Rishabh Pant sealed his slot with some fantastic batting efforts. So, as of now, it looks very difficult for Rahul to fit into the scheme for things for India in Test matches.

HAS RAHUL DONE ENOUGH TO RETAIN HIS TEST SPOT?