India lock horns with Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. With the majestic bowling of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, India bundled Australia out for 113 runs in the second innings. India needs 115 runs to win the match and take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series. However, the hosts scored 14 runs for 1 wicket until Lunch on Day 3. Opener KL Rahul once again failed to capitalize on the opportunity and was dismissed for 1 run by Nathan Lyon.
Rahul continues to struggle with his poor form and got trapped by Lyon once again in the second innings of the game. India scored 14 runs in four overs before Lunch as captain Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara are unbeaten on 12 and 1 respectively.
Rahul’s performance has been one of the biggest troubles for the Indian team. His selection in the team is also being questioned by former players like Venkatesh Prasad. Prasad has alleged that Rahul’s selection is not based on performance but is a result of favoritism. He also asked to sack him as vice-captain and play Shubman Gill in the next match.
After Rahul fails in the second match Prasad tweeted, “And the torrid run continues. More to do with the rigidity of the management to persist with a player who just hasn’t looked the part. No top-order batsman in at least the last 20 years of Indian cricket has played these many tests with such a low average.”
India to announce squad for rest of the series today
Amid his poor form, KL Rahul will be waiting for a decision on his fate in the longest format of the game today as the BCCI Selection Committee is set to select the team. The squad for Border Gavaskar Trophy’s last two Test matches and the three-match ODI series will be chosen by the four members committee led by Shiv Sundar Das. The meeting is likely to commence after the final of the Ranji Trophy between Saurashtra and Bengal.
Meanwhile, fans react to Rahul’s poor form and ask him to take retirement. A user wrote, “KL Rahul: jaldi ball dal pavilion nikalna hai.”
Here are some Tweets:
— Purva Kadam (@Kohlifitoor) February 19, 2023
Waiting for his tweet 😂 pic.twitter.com/V6jOyT4toj
— BKL Rahul 0.2 (@BKLrahul_) February 19, 2023
Beautiful scenes from Delhi today pic.twitter.com/1pCMqNjep2
— R (@KLmyidolo) February 19, 2023
Lord KL decided to give his place to Ishan / Gill
People say – Gill
BCCI -: to be decided— 🇳🇿 (@Sanjona_Virus) February 19, 2023
💔 .. Ab to sahi me taras aarha ha yrr.. What going wrong for him
— KR Amit (@iamitamu) February 19, 2023
unluckiest cricketer ever to eexist
— Anshdeep Singh (@anshwitter) February 19, 2023
Feel for KL … He's really going through some tough phase.
What an unfortunate way to out.#KLRahul𓃵— v J 🇮🇳 (@iMvJ27) February 19, 2023
Happy retirement champ @klrahul
— Akash R Patil (@ImAkashPatil) February 19, 2023
