Sourav Ganguly Speaks Up On ‘Out-Of-Form’ KL Rahul, Says ‘If You Don’t Score In India…’

While KL Rahul has played some quality knocks in England and Australia, former India captain Sourav Ganguly said it’s obvious that people will expect way more from a talented player like Rahul, who has managed just five Test hundreds in nine years.

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Former India captain and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president spoke up on ‘out-of-form’ KL Rahul – who has been stripped of vice-captaincy of the Test side after India’s six-wicket win over Australia in the second Test in Delhi earlier this month. The India opener hasn’t crossed 25-run mark in his last 10 Test knocks. An average of less than 35 in 47 Tests isn’t an actual realisation of his real potential.

“When you don’t score runs in India, obviously you will get flak. KL Rahul hasn’t been the only one. There have been players in the past also,” Ganguly told PTI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of Delhi Capitals’ IPL 2023 pre-season camp.

Ganguly tried to put things in perspective as to why the Bengaluru man is being persisted with despite repeated failures. “There’s so much focus and attention with lot of pressure on players. The team management thinks he is an important player for the team. At the end of the day, what coach and captain thinks is important,” the veteran of 113 Tests and 311 ODIs said.

While Rahul has played some quality knocks in England and Australia, Ganguly said it’s obvious that people will expect way more from a talented player like Rahul, who has managed just five Test hundreds in nine years. “He has performed but obviously you expect a lot more from a top order batter playing for India because the standards set by others are so high. When you fail for a while, obviously there will be criticism. I am sure Rahul has ability and I am sure as and when he gets more opportunities, he will have to find ways to score,” he explained.

So is Rahul’s problem technical or mental? “Both,” pat comes the reply.

EXCLUSIVE | VIDEO: It will be difficult for @klrahul to avoid criticism for his prolonged lean patch, former skipper @SGanguly99 tells @kushansarkar. He also feels the current Aus team does not have the quality of the past teams, that had Hayden, Ponting and Waugh brothers. pic.twitter.com/j4M2V47fKI — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 27, 2023

But the former BCCI President also gave an interesting insight into Rahul’s lack of runs as he is getting out to pacers as well as spinners in all conditions in recent times. “It also makes it hard if you are playing on these sort of pitches as the balls are turning and bouncing. There’s uneven bounce and when you are not in form, it makes it even more harder,” Ganguly said.

‘Shubman Gill has to wait’

There has been a clamour to include Shubman Gill in the playing XI but Ganguly feels that the Punjab man will get his share of chances and there's no harm if he has to wait a little bit. But what do you tell a Shubman, who has to cool his heels when he is in red hot form?

“I am sure when his time comes, he will also get a lot of opportunities. I think the selectors, the captain and the coach think of him and rate him very highly. That's why he is playing ODIs and T20Is, and he has performed as well. But at the present moment, perhaps message from team management is that he has to wait.”

‘Been in touch with Rishabh Pant’

Ganguly is the Director of Cricket for the Delhi Capitals and one of the toughest challenges for him is to fill in the void created due to unavailability of Rishabh Pant, who met with a horrific accident and underwent surgery recently. “I spoke to him a couple of times. Obviously he is going through a tough period, through injuries and surgeries and I wish him well. In a year's time or may be in a couple of years' time, he will be back playing for India,” Ganguly said.

Will he like to see Pant being with the team for some time during IPL which could also help in his recovery. “Don’t know. We will see,” Ganguly said.

DC is yet to announce Pant’s replacement and Ganguly is still undecided on who is better between young turk Abhishek Porel and domestic veteran Sheldon Jackson. “We still need a bit of time to figure out. The next camp starts before IPL.”

While David Warner is set to lead DC, Axar Patel will be his deputy this season. Ganguly monitored a three-day camp in Kolkata which the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Ishant Sharma, Chetan Sakariya, Manish Pandey attended along with other domestic players.

“The IPL is still a month away and the season has just started. It is difficult to get all the players together for the amount of cricket they play. There are four or five who are playing Irani Trophy. Sarfaraz has an injured finger and it's not a broken finger. He should be okay for the IPL,” he concluded.

India will take on Australia in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series at the Holkar Stadium in Indore from Wednesday (March 1).