Rohit Sharma opens up on KL Rahul’s poor form: “If a guy has potential, he will get that extended run”

Team India captain Rohit Sharma has backed under-fire opener KL Rahul despite his poor form over the last few months. Admitting that there have been talks around Rahul, Rohit made it clear that players with potential with be given an extended run.

Rahul, 30, has struggled for runs in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. In three innings, he has registered scores of 20, 17, and one. In India’s previous Test assignment in Bangladesh, he managed a highest score of 23 in four innings, leading the team in Rohit’s absence.

At a press conference following India’s six-wicket win over Australia in Delhi in the second Test on Sunday, February 19, the Indian captain shared his thoughts on Rahul’s form and said:

"Of late, there has been lot of talk on his batting. But for us as team management, we always look at the potential of any individual, not just KL. I have been asked in the past about lot of players. If a guy has potential, he will get that extended run."

The 35-year-old further pointed out that Rahul has played some high-quality innings for India in Tests under challenging conditions. Rohit elaborated:

"It is not just about KL, but anyone. If you look at couple of hundreds, he got outside India [England 2021 and SA 2022], one of the best I have seen from KL, especially the one at the Lord's.

"Batting on that damp pitch in England, [that too] after losing the toss and put in to bat is never easy. He [Rahul] put a great performance there and Centurion was another one. India won both those games. That is the potential he has."

Rohit revealed that the team management has advised the batter to play his natural game. He continued:

"Of late there have been talks. [But] it was clear from our side that we want him to go out and play his game.”

Interestingly, while Rahul has been retained in the Indian squad for the last two Tests against Australia, he has not been named as vice-captain.

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“You need to find your methods of scoring runs” - Rohit Sharma on KL Rahul’s form

Elaborating on Rahul’s poor run of scores, Rohit stated that he will need to find his own way of scoring runs on turning Indian pitches. The skipper stated:

"When you are playing on pitches like these, you need to find your methods of scoring runs. The methods of scoring runs against spinners on turners will differ from batter to batter. Different individuals are part of this team and they will have different methods of scoring runs

“We are not going to look too much into what one individual is doing. It is about how everyone needs to come together.”

Rahul has played 47 Tests for India, scoring 2642 runs at a mediocre average of 33.44, with seven hundreds and 13 fifties.