KL Rahul Hasn't Paid That Much Attention To It: Deep Dasgupta Picks KL Rahul As A Middle-Order Option And Mayank Agarwal As Gill's Replacement

Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta has picked two straightforward options in Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul to replace the injured Shubman Gill at the opening slot for the upcoming Test series against England.

Talented young opener Shubman Gill has reportedly aggravated his shin and he is set to be out of the game for 6-8 weeks.

Dasgupta believes that Mayank Agarwal will be an ideal candidate to open alongside Rohit Sharma in English conditions as compared to KL Rahul.

The former Indian stumper reckoned that KL Rahul has not been able to address his defensive technique issues in the recent past and he will be better of playing in the middle-order.

While Mayank Agarwal’s last Test outing came in Brisbane earlier this year where he played in the middle-order, KL Rahul hasn’t played a first-class match since he got dropped from the Test team in August 2019.

“There are two straightforward options – Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul. My vote goes for Mayank Agarwal because, yes, he did have two or three bad performances but overall, I think his Test career has been really impressive – in India and especially overseas. For KL Rahul, see, he has opened or played in the top order throughout his life whether it’s for Karnataka or India in red-ball or white-ball cricket,” said Deep Dasgupta on his official Youtube channel.

 

“But the way he has been playing white-ball cricket, his technique has changed a bit, he’s become more attacking. His attacking technique has improved but his defensive technique… he hasn’t paid that much attention to it. That’s why I feel that KL Rahul, as far as red-ball cricket is concerned, is a very good middle-order option.” he added.

Deep Dasgupta also suggested a left-field option in Hanuma Vihari for the opening slot.

Vihari opened the innings for Team India during the 2018 Boxing Day Test against Australia and he did a brilliant job as he blunted the Aussie seamers.

“If you see a bit out of the box, then we have Hanuma Vihari, who has opened before and can do it again if needed. He has the technique to do it. There’s one more option as well,” he said.

Abhimanyu Easwaran was picked as one of the standby players for the England series and Deep Dasgupta believes that the Bengal opener may come into contention during the 5-match series.

“If Shubman Gill isn’t available then Abhimanyu Easwaran is also available with the team. His last First-Class season wasn’t that great but his career average is over 40, he’s been absolutely brilliant in domestic cricket and for India A.” Deep Dasgupta said.

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