KL Rahul, former vice-captain and opening batsman of the Indian cricket team, has been struggling with his form in Test cricket in recent times. His poor form continued in the Delhi Test against Australia, where he scored just 18 runs in two innings. Since his century against South Africa in Centurion, Rahul has scored just 198 runs in 12 innings, with only one score of fifty or more. Consequently, his Test average has dropped to 33.44, due to his poor run of form. However, something strange occurred in the recently concluded Test, where his average was displayed 26 times more than his current one.
pic.twitter.com/bZjGtLCA9p
— P R A S H A N T _ (@Prashant_Views9) February 19, 2023
K L Rahul’s Avg – 876 _ Aakash Chopra as star sports statistician pic.twitter.com/mbVBTHxKlG
— mon (@4sacinom) February 19, 2023
During the second innings of the second Test, when Rahul was batting on four, Star Sports Hindi displayed his stats. While all the other numbers, such as matches played and total runs, were correct, his average was shown to be 876. If taken into account, this average is more than four times the combined average of some of the greatest batsmen in cricket history, such as Don Bradman, Steve Smith, and Sachin Tendulkar. The fans were understandably surprised and took to social media to express their disbelief at the broadcaster’s error.
Despite his poor run of form, Rahul has retained his place in the squad. However, he has been dropped from the position of vice-captain. Rahul has only scored 38 runs in the ongoing series against Australia and may be benched for the remaining two games. Nevertheless, he has found support from skipper Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. Both Dravid and Sharma have emphasized the importance of giving players like Rahul a longer run, considering his performances in England and South Africa in 2021, where he scored a century in each country.
On the other hand, former cricketers such as Venkatesh Prasad and Harbhajan Singh have called for Shubman Gill’s inclusion from the Indore Test onwards, given Rahul’s struggles. Overall, Rahul’s current form is a cause for concern, and it remains to be seen whether he can rediscover his form in the upcoming matches.
