KL Rahul was Team India’s top scorer in the first ODI of the three-match series against Australia, which was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday (March 17). The 30-year-old right-handed batter remained unbeaten on 75 runs and helped India chase down the target of 189 runs in 39.5 overs for the loss of five wickets. KL’s place in the team was questioned before the start of the game, but he silenced the critics by playing a sublime knock in the ODI series opener.
Before the start of the first ODI, KL was going through a lean patch in international cricket. He was dropped from the playing XI in Test format after his continuous failure to score big runs. He was even sacked from the Test vice-captaincy, and many raised questions over his form and place in the side. He was called a flat-track bully and someone who scores runs in the IPL only.
But according to former Pakistani skipper Salman Butt, if anyone was to be blamed for Rahul’s poor form over an extended period and criticism, then it was none other than the BCCI’s selection committee. According to Butt, the selectors should be blamed for Rahul’s criticism because they kept on playing him even when he was struggling, and that exposed him.
In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Butt said that despite having in-form Shubman Gill in the squad, the management kept backing out-of-form Rahul.
“KL Rahul was criticized a lot during his lean patch. I believe that India’s selection committee is to blame for Rahul’s criticism. They kept on playing him consistently, even though he was out of form. They exposed him by doing so, despite having an in-form player like Shubman Gill in the squad. Yes, you need to give confidence to your players, but it can also be done through communication, and you can save them from unnecessary criticism,” Butt said.
Despite scoring one fifty in Test cricket since the start of 2022, KL was backed over Gill for the first two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and that invited more severe criticism for him.
