KL Rahul Conundrum returns to India second informal test of A

KL Rahul is all set to take part in India A’s 2nd unofficial Test against England Lions that commences from June 6. This brings us to a pertinent question – where will the star bat? While Rahul’s decision to gear up for the upcoming five-match Test series against England is a good initiative, it comes as a headache for the coach and captain Abhimanyu Easwaran to decide where to slot him in the playing XI.

Where should Rahul bat for India A?

Rahul will be expected to occupy the role of the opener in the Test series against England. After all, he did serve as India’s opener in the absence of Rohit Sharma in a couple of Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With the former Indian captain having retired from Tests just before the tour to UK, it is all but confirmed that Rahul will return as an opener.

But this is where the problem begins. India A already have two set openers – captain Easwaran and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Both batters cannot be demoted as they are specialist openers. At the same time, Rahul won’t fit well in the middle-order and will have no choice but to open, if he wants to get some good game-time before the England series.

Easwaran is India A’s captain and hence cannot be dropped from the side. Meanwhile, Jaiswal also cannot be dropped since he is India’s first-choice opener in the main squad.

India A’s middle-order is already star-studded, comprising of the likes of Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan. Slotting Rahul anywhere between these three would make his role rather redundant.

Rahul has scored majority of his runs in Tests while playing as an opener. The keeper-batter has amassed 2803 runs out of 3257 Test runs while playing as an opener. He averages 40.02 and 30.05 while playing at 1 and 2, and has scored 7 hundreds and 14 half-centuries. Hence, he becomes an automatic choice to replace Rohit as an opener.

But if he needs to get some game time via the India A series, then he must open the innings. Slotting him in the middle-order solves no purpose – neither for India A nor for Rahul himself.