Dinesh Karthik’s frank assessment on KL Rahul averaging in mid-30s in Tests: “That is not acceptable for an opener”

In a candid assessment of KL Rahul’s Test career so far, Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has stated that the opener’s average of 34.26 after 45 red-ball games is just not good enough. While he backed Rahul as opener over Shubman Gill for the upcoming Tests against Australia at home, Karthik agreed that the 30-year-old should be dropped from the playing XI if he fails in the first couple of matches.

Rahul made his debut in the Boxing Day Test against Australia in 2014. In 45 Tests, he has scored 2604 at a disappointing average of under 35 with seven hundreds and 13 fifties.

The right-handed batter led the team in Rohit Sharma’s absence in the two-match Test series in Bangladesh. India clinched the series 2-0, but Rahul was poor with the bat, registering a highest score of 23 from four innings.

Following his disappointing performance against Bangladesh, calls have been growing for Gill to replace Rahul for the Tests against Australia at home. Asked for his thoughts on the Rahul-Gill debate, Karthik told Cricbuzz:

“I would give KL those couple of Test matches, but if things don’t go KL Rahul’s way… The one thing that does go against him is the fact that he has played over 40 Tests and his average is just mid-30s. That is not acceptable for an opener. That is one of the lowest among Indian players for sure, who have played 35 Test matches.

"That is something that he needs to definitely work on. That will be on his mind. If he wants to cement his place in the Test team, he needs to get a couple of hundreds against Australia. Otherwise, you can definitely see a change, with Shubman Gill doing so well.”

Before the Test series, Rahul was inconsistent in the ODI series as well against Bangladesh, registering scores of 73,14, and eight.

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“Their strongest XI has not been on the park for some time” - Dinesh Karthik on India’s fitness woes

Apart from Rahul’s form, Karthik is also concerned about the fitness of India’s players. Pointing to the plethora of injury issues, he lamented that the team will find it difficult to do well in major tournaments in the absence of their key players.

The 37-year-old said:

“They need fit players. The problem with India over a period of time is the fact that they are not able to play a fully fit XI. Their strongest XI has not been on the park for some time.

"That is not good; that should happen very soon if they want to start planning ahead for the World Test Championship (WTC) final and for the World Cup that’s happening in October.”

India missed the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja during the T20 World Cup in Australia. They crashed out of the tournament following a 10-wicket hammering at the hands of England in the semi-finals.