KL Rahul's mediocre form has attracted the ire of many fans and ex-cricketers, no more so than former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad. The highly opinionated ex-player who is constantly active on Twitter has constantly questioned Rahul's selection in the team
In his latest Tweet, Prasad rubbished the notion that Rahul possessed a good overseas form.
"There is a view that KL Rahul has an outstanding overseas Test record. But stats speak otherwise. He has a Test avg of 30 overseas in 56 innings. He has scored 6 overseas centuries but followed it up with a string of low scores that’s why averaging 30. Let’s look at a few others", Prasad wote in his Tweet.
Prasad compared Rahul's numbers with that of other openers, who faced the axe as soon as their form hit a roadblock. Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane were the examples Prasad used to reiterate his point.
Prasad highlighted that Dhawan had the best overseas record among recent openers.
"Shikhar Dhawan has the best overseas average amongst recent openers. Avg of nearly 40 with 5 100’s. Though he too hasn’t been consistent in Test but had Outstanding centuries in SL and NZ, plus a much better home record."
When laying down Mayank Agarwal's stats many fans will be surprised at the lack of backing the Karnataka opener received.
"Mayank Agarwal after the brilliant start in Australia did struggle in away test matches. But he has by far the best home record. Avg of nearly 70 in 13 innings,2 double 100’s & a 150 on a Wankhede pitch where everyone else struggled. Great against spin & had a prolific domestic season", Prasad pointed out.
Rahul was retained in the squad for the last two Test matches. Prasad backed the stylish opener to come good and prove his critics wrong if selected to feature in the third Test at Indore.
"But with KL being retained for the remaining 2 test matches, if he is picked in the playing 11, Indore is his best chance of coming back to form and silencing critics like me. Else needs to play county cricket, perform well and make a comeback in the Test side, Prasad concluded.
