BAN vs IND: Rahul the batter under scanner

With nine scores less than 20 in his last 18 innings, the stand-in skipper's place in the team might have to be discussed even if India chase down the target on Sunday.
Bangladesh’s Nurul Hasan (C) takes a catch to dismiss India’s KL Rahul (L) during the third day of the second cricket Test match between Bangladesh and India in Dhaka. (Photo | AFP)
Bangladesh’s Nurul Hasan (C) takes a catch to dismiss India’s KL Rahul (L) during the third day of the second cricket Test match between Bangladesh and India in Dhaka. (Photo | AFP)

CHENNAI: After India bundled out Bangladesh for 231 in the second innings on Day three of the second Test in Mirpur, the tourists’ dressing room would have been a happy one. Especially KL Rahul. With a target of 145 runs to secure a 2-0 win, it was the perfect opportunity for the stand-in skipper to score some runs and take the team home. But that is not how it panned out.

First ball of the third over. Shakib Al Hasan to Rahul. The Indian opener knows what to expect. After all, he had fallen prey to the other left-arm spinner, Taijul Islam, in the first innings. Shakib tossed it up, pitching it in the fuller-length area around the off-stump. Rahul took his front foot forward, lunging with the bat. End result, the ball shaped away and took the outside edge of the open-faced bat. Keeper Nurul Hasan did the rest. Another failure for the captain. Over the next hour, India were reduced to 45/4, needing 100 more runs to win.

Now, Rahul’s scores in this series — 22, 23, 10 and 2 - do not look good for a captain. In fact, since the pandemic broke, Rahul has gone past the 20-run mark only nine times in 18 innings. Granted, he has played all nine Tests outside India. That said, since the first two Tests during the 2021 England tour, consistency hasn’t been Rahul’s friend. His overall numbers, too, need to be looked at. Rahul has the second-lowest average for an Indian Test opener (35.90 in 42 matches) since his debut with Shubman Gill averaging 31.31 in his short career so far (13 games). Which is why the Bangladesh tour was a platform for Rahul. After missing all 23 home Tests in the last four years, it was his chance to pile on, especially having been named captain in Rohit Sharma’s absence.

Which brings the focus to his original role, the vice-captain. Ahead of the series, Rahul himself said that he did not know the criteria to be named for the job. “Whoever is picked, you give them a pat on the back and continue. Even for me when I became vice-captain, you get happy. You have the responsibility of the team, it really does not change too many things in the team,” he said. To be fair, Rahul is right. It might not change the role of a player. However, it assures the player a place in the first XI. And often, Rahul has found himself to be in the right place at the right time for that.

Let’s roll back to July 2021. Shubman Gill had made a name for himself in Australia. He was primed to open the batting with Rohit Sharma. But an injury meant Rahul, who was a backup opener in Australia before spraining his wrist in Melbourne, walked in. To his credit, he made an immediate impression in Nottingham, following it up with a Lord’s hundred. So much so that when Rohit, the original deputy to Virat Kohli for the South Africa tour, got injured, Rahul was elevated to vice-captain. After all, he was the safer bet.

But before he knew it, Rahul found himself captaining the side in Centurion. Since then, he has been Rohit’s deputy across formats whenever both of them were in the squad. This is at a time when there are not one, but several players pushing for a place in the XI. The last time the vice-captain was named with the scope of the ascendancy to captaincy was when Rohit replaced Ajinkya Rahane. Since then, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara have had the job within the year.

India might still go on to chase down the target in Mirpur on Sunday. They might still finish with a clean sweep for that is how good they are in the subcontinent. However, as they sit and pick the team for Australia, with Rohit returning to the side, they might want to look at two things. First, vice-captaincy is a job for someone to take over the team in future, and second, Rahul's place in the team as a batter.
Scoreboard:
Bangladesh 1st innings: 227 India 1st innings: 314
Bangladesh 2nd innings (7-0 o/n): Najmul lbw Ashwin 5, Zakir c Siraj b Yadav 51, Mominul c Pant b Siraj 5, Shakib c Gill b Unadkat 13, Mushfiqur lbw Patel 9, Liton b Siraj 73, Mehidy lbw Patel 0, Nurul st Pant b Patel 31, Taskin 31 n.o, Taijul lbw Ashwin 1, Khaled Ahmed run out 4. Extras 8. Total (all out; 70.2 ovs) 231.
Bowling: Umesh 9-1-32-1, Ashwin 22-2-66-2, Unadkat 9-3-17-1, Siraj 11-0-41-2, Axar 19.2-1-68-3. FoWs: 1-13, 2-26, 3-51, 4-70, 5-102, 6-113, 7-159, 8-219, 9-220.
India 2nd innings: Gill st Nurul b Mehidy 7, Rahul c Nurul b Shakib 2, Pujara st Nurul b Mehidy 6, Axar 26 n.o, Kohli c Mominul b Mehidy 1, Unadkat 3 n.o. Extras 0. Total (4 wickets; 23 ovs) 45. FoWs: 1-3, 2-12, 3-29, 4-37.
Bowling: Shakib 6-0-21-1, Taijul 8-4-8-0, Mehidy 8-3-12-3, Taskin 1-0-4-0.

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