Coach Gambhir bats for struggling KL Rahul to open if Rohit doesn’t play the first Test
MUMBAI: Despite his recent slump in form, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir is backing seasoned campaigner KL Rahul to open in the first Test of the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar series in Australia if skipper Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the opener in Perth due to personal reasons.
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Rohit has not travelled with the team, leading to speculations over his availability for the first Test in Perth, which will begin on November 22. According to reliable sources, Virat Kohli travelled to Australia a day earlier than the rest of the team, while vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah flew Down Under with family on Monday night. The rest of the Indian team travelled to Australia in two separate batches on Nov 10 & 11.
Speaking at a pre-departure media interaction on Monday morning, attended by a handful of journalists, Gambhir hoped that the captain would be available for the series opener, even though there is no confirmation yet. “At the moment, there is no confirmation. We will let you know what the situation will be. Hopefully, he will be available. But you will get to know everything at the start of the series,” Gambhir said while clarifying that Bumrah will lead the side in Rohit’s absence. “Bumrah is vice-captain; if Rohit is not available, he’s going to lead in Perth.”
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The head coach, however, clarified that there are sufficient options and a contingency plan in place if Rohit is unavailable in Perth. “We have (Abhimanyu) Easwaran and KL (Rahul) there, so we will take a call closer to the first Test if Rohit is not available,” Gambhir said.
Rahul has endured below-par performances of late and was dropped from the remainder of the home Test series against New Zealand after getting out for scores of 0 &12 in the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. Sent to Australia a bit earlier along with ‘keeper-bat Dhruv Jurel for some game time, he failed to utilise the opportunity, managing to score just 14 runs (4 & 10) in India A’s unofficial Test against Australia A in Melbourne last week.
However, Gambhir backed the batter to come good. “KL Rahul can bat in the top order, he can bat at No. 3, he can play at No. 6. So, you need quite a lot of talent to do all these jobs, and he has kept in ODIs. Imagine how many countries have players like KL, who can open, can bat at No. 6 as well,” the coach said, adding: “If needed, he can do the job for us, especially if Rohit is not available for the first Test match.”
