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Former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh slammed the Indian team management for underutilizing KL Rahul, who is known as one of the most versatile batters for the India National Cricket Team across the formats.
The keeper-batter, who joined the Indian cricket team backed by a strong IPL 2026 campaign with the Delhi Capitals, for some unknown reason, was pushed to the lower half of the batting order during the ODI series against England.
Dodda Ganesh compares KL Rahul with a dusty Ferrari in the garage
Sharing a photo of a dust-covered Ferrari sports car to compare Rahul's current situation in the Indian cricket team. The right-handed batter was barely able to make any significant contributions in India's ODI matches against England, where the Men in Blue suffered a 2-1 defeat.
The Gautam Gambhir-coached Team India, which is now well known for shuffling batting orders and playing combinations, pushed Rahul to the back of the batting order, rather than asking him to bat as a typical middle-order batter.
Dodda stated that, due to wrong tactical moves, the team has wasted the prolific talent who has very strong batting statistics as the number 5 batter in the One Day International format.
"KL Rahul, after owning no 5 with unreal numbers, being pushed to no 6 looks something like this. Absolute waste of a genuine batter," Dodda Ganesh wrote in one of his recent social media posts.
KL Rahul, after owning no 5 with unreal numbers, being pushed to no 6 looks something like this. Absolute waste of a genuine batter #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/9mIYGXXrMN
— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) July 20, 2026
Last night in Cardiff, when Rohit Sharma, captain Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli set the stage for India to chase down a massive target of 388 runs in 50 overs, the Indian team management sent Rahul to bat at No. 6.
While Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were sent into the middle as the number four and number five batters respectively, Rahul was slotted at number six. In the run chase, he was dismissed for only 12 runs from 8 balls.
KL Rahul's average at No.5 is over 60
On the pitch where Ben Duckett and Rohit Sharma scored a century each, and a fifty-plus run knock each for Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, KL Rahul could have done a lot better than being dismissed for only 12.
India lost the match at Lord's and eventually lost the three-match series. According to the former cricketer's opinion, the Indian team management made a mistake by not considering Rahul as their number 5 batter.
From the number 5 position in ODIs, the experienced batter has scored 1,517 runs in 35 matches, averaging 63.2, supported by ten 50s and three 100s, while his batting average as a number 6 batter is only 34.5 in 15 matches.
Dodda Ganesh does not want to blame KL Rahul for the defeat at Lord's
As India lost the match in the presence of Rahul's poor outing, some of the cricket fans across social media platforms blamed him for the result, which went in favour of the home team. Dodda Ganesh highlighted that people might have blamed KL Rahul for the defeat, but the numbers he owned as a proven number 5 batter were telling the truth themselves.
"The reason KL Rahul faces so much hate and bullying online despite his unreal numbers and versatility in ODIs is accounts like these. The game was practically over by the time KL came to bat at no 6, but who gets the blame? It’s KL again. At this rate, KL could even be blamed for Indian diplomatic relations with the rest of the world," the former cricketer mentioned in a different 'X' post.
The reason KL Rahul faces so much hate and bullying online despite his unreal numbers and versatility in ODIs, is accounts like these.
— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) July 20, 2026
The game was practically over by the time KL came to bat at no 6; but who gets the blame? It’s KL again. At this rate KL could be even blamed… https://t.co/LfUWRPVRFd
