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What's the story?
2018 has truly been a series of crests and troughs for KL Rahul's international career. While he did a wonderful job in the 2018 edition of the IPL, unfortunately for him, except for a handful of knocks, he has failed to replicate a similar touch with the willow at the topmost level of cricket.
His inconsistency has invited him a lot of criticism and anger from Indian cricket fans as well as experts. Amidst the sea of non-stop angry remarks by fans that have been breaking into his career for quite some time now, his recent knock of only 3 runs in 18 deliveries against Cricket Australia XI in a 4-day warm-up match at the Sydney Cricket Ground has created a giant tide of disappointment in the Indian cricket circuit.
In case you didn't know
After a fabulous IPL season, Rahul's capabilities as an explosive and reliable batsman gained grounds in the cricketing fraternity. His sublime strokeplay, fearless approach, and terrific technique earned him a spot in all formats of the game for India's tour of England. He started off in style, scoring a splendid century in the 1st T20I but failed miserably in the next 2 T20Is, 2 ODIs, and 5 Test matches except for a century in the final innings of the last Test match.
He was widely criticized and accused of being not focused on the game. As an opener, his responsibilities were immense but after failing to deliver, disappointed cricket fans lashed out at him.
He played only 1 out of 6 games for India in the Asia Cup where he scored a gutsy 60 but was widely criticized for taking poor on-field decisions and being impatient at the crease. His poor showings with the bat continued during Windies tour of India where he registered only 37 runs in 2 Test matches and 59 runs in 3 T20s.
In the T20 series against Australia, he scored only 27 runs in 2 T20s and the angry remarks of being impatient at the crease and poor shot selection kept flooding in. Experts were not pleased too. Sanjay Manjrekar even took a shot at him for his inconsistency.
The heart of the matter
His continued struggles with the blade against CA XI in the practice match where 5 Indian players registered fifties. The Twitter universe is not the one to shy away from expressing views and this particular knock didn't sit well with it at all. Here are some of the remarks:-
What's next?
Rahul's talent and skills are of match-winning nature, there is no doubt about it. A fine striker of the ball indeed but international cricket isn't too kind to reward you if your talents are not expressed through performances. Rahul needs to bring his A-game in the Test series starting Dec 6 against Australia.
There are lots of contenders for his spot in the team like Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer who have been exceptional in the domestic circuit. Recent debutants Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have done a great job whenever they have gotten a chance.
Both of these players struck fifties in the practice match. KL must bring his edge back or certainly, the influx of talented cricketers like Shaw and Mayank might take over.
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