IPL 2017: 5 possible replacements for KL Rahul in RCB's batting line-up

The Indian Premier League is set to kick off in a couple of days with defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad taking on last year’s finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first game of the season.

RCB who have never won the title in the past would be looking to do so with their star-studded line-up. However, they have their task cut out as KL Rahul was ruled out of the entire season due to a shoulder injury he picked up in the recently concluded Test series between India and Australia.

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With Virat Kohli set to miss the first few matches as well due to a similar reason, RCB would be looking to rope in a batsman to replace KL Rahul either at the top of the order or in the middle order.

Here are the 5 possible replacements for the 24-year-old

#5 Virat Singh

This 19-year-old came into the limelight for his exceptional performances for East Zone in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. With two unbeaten fifties which included a 48 ball 74 in the final of the tournament, he helped his side lift the trophy.

He made his first-class debut for Jharkhand when he was just 16 years old and despite not performing too well in the longer format of the game, he has been consistent at the T20 level.

He has played a total of 28 domestic T20 matches where he has scored 646 runs at an average of 26.91 with three half centuries to his name. With the form he has showed over the past few months, this youngster could be the ideal replacement for Rahul in RCB’s batting line-up.

#4 N Jagadeesan

Out of the 5 cricketers in this list, N Jagadeesan has already gone through a trial with RCB which took place on April 2^nd.

Extra Cover: IPL 2017: Tamil Nadu's N Jagadeesan in line to replace injured KL Rahul in the RCB squad

Though he played as a specialist batsman for Tamil Nadu in the 2017 Deodhar Trophy, Jagadeesan scored three fifties in three matches and was the third highest run-scorer in the tournament after Dinesh Karthik and Shikhar Dhawan. He piled up 190 runs in the tournament at an average of 63.33 and a strike-rate of 95.

He is also a wicket keeper and that would come in handy for RCB as KL Rahul was supposed to keep wickets for them.

#3 Unmukt Chand

Unmukt Chand led the Indian U-19 world cup team to the title back in 2012 and was immediately compared to Kohli for doing so. However, things did not go as expected with a string of low performances in the domestic circuit.

Unlike Kohli who broke into the team shortly after leading the Indian U-19 world cup team to success in 2008, Unmukt is yet to make his debut for the national side.

His career never really got going in the IPL as well having played for the Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indian. He made his debut in 2011 and featured in only 21 games since then where he has scored 300 runs at an average of 15 with just one half-century to his name.

Over the past year or so, his performances in the domestic circuit have improved and he found himself unlucky when he was not picked up by any team in the auction.

#2 Harpreet Singh

Photo credits: Harpreet Singh

This 25-year-old from Madhya Pradesh came into the limelight with an exceptional performance as a youngster in the Cooch Behar Trophy back in 2008-09. He was even named the vice-captain of the Indian U-19 squad which travelled to Australia in the same year and was included in the world cup squad as welll.

While his performances in the longer format of the game might not be something to boast about, he has come up with the goods in the T20 format. He ended up as the highest run getter in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament with 211 runs to his name in 4 matches at an average of 52.75.

With an overall average of 31.94 in T20s and having scored over 1000 runs, he could prove to be a vital addition to RCB’s squad in the absence of Rahul.

#1 Cheteshwar Pujara

Granted that Cheteshwar Pujara is not the ideal T20 batsman but with the form that he has been in over the past 12 months, it looks like everything he touches turns to gold.

He has been the most consistent batsman for the Indian Test team scoring over 2000 runs in the last season.

He was the second highest run-getter in the recently concluded Test series against Australia as well scoring 405 runs in 7 innings at an average of 57.85 with two half centuries and a magnificent double century to his name.

In fact, he has not been too bad in the shortest format of the game as well. In 58 domestic T20 matches, he has scored 1096 runs at an average of above 25 with 6 half-centuries to his name.

With the form he is in, he could prove to be the best replacement for RCB and could even open the innings along with Chris Gayle.