Exclusive: KL Rahul Hasn't Proved Himself At The Test Level And It Will Be A Great Opportunity For Him In This England Series- Monty Panesar

Former English spinner Monty Panesar has said that he is confident of KL Rahul opening the innings for team India in the first Test against England. Notably, the five-match Test series between England and India is all set to kick off from August 04 at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham. But even before the series began, team India has been in a worrisome situation due to injuries.

First up, regular Indian opener,  Shubman Gill got injured after the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand and was ruled out of the Test series. Later, Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar got injured in the practice games as Ajinkya Rahane also battled fitness issues. To make matters worse, Mayank Agarwal got injured in training and was ruled out of the first Test.

Thus, the BCCI decided on sending injury replacements to England in the form of Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav.

Monty Panesar Backs KL Rahul To Open Alongside Rohit Sharma

However, a massive COVID outbreak in the Indian contingent in Sri Lanka meant the delayed departure of both Prithvi and Suryakumar and now both these players can only be available from the 3rd Test of the series. Thus, India are lost for choices in the opening slot and now, former English spinner Monty Panesar has opened up on the conundrum.

Speaking exclusively to Cricketaddictor, Monty said, “You want Prithvi Shaw to be available but he isn’t obviously available. So KL Rahul would be given another go. He probably is a better T20 or One-Day player and he still hasn’t proved himself at the Test level. It will be great to see how KL Rahul will adapt to the swinging conditions.”

A Test Of Nerves For KL Rahul

KL Rahul might have been the best limited-overs batsman for team India in the last year and a half, but his records in Test cricket haven’t been abundant to guarantee him a spot in the first eleven of the Test side. With a below-par average of 34.58 in Test cricket, Rahul had a really poor tour of England, Australia, and South Africa in the 2017-18 season which led to his ouster from the Indian team.

However, the good news for the Indian Cricket Team is Rahul’s recent form as he has been doing well in limited-overs cricket and he also came up with a century in the practice match ahead of the first Test. if he gets a chance to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma in the first Test, Rahul will have a test of nerves against the English swing bowlers.