KL Rahul‘s biggest issue in his international career, according to former India opener Aakash Chopra, has been injuries. The star batter will miss the second Test against England. KL Rahul, who amassed a magnificent half-century in the Hyderabad Test’s first innings, has withdrawn from the match against Vizag citing discomfort in his right quadriceps.
Due to injury worries, Rahul has been in and out of the Indian team recently. He suffered a thigh injury during the Indian Premier League last year, which kept him out of a significant amount of play. But he had a fantastic return, scoring vital runs for the side in the Asia Cup, the World ODI Cup, and the Test series against South Africa.
On Friday, February 2, the second Test of the five-match series between India and England takes place in Visakhapatnam. With KL Rahul complaining of soreness in his right quadriceps and Ravindra Jadeja suffering from a hamstring strain, they would be missing both players.
This has been the biggest problem in KL Rahul’s career- Aakash Chopra on KL Rahul’s injury woes
Aakash Chopra noted that even while Rahul’s form appears to be good, he can still be negatively impacted by specific illnesses or injuries. Aakash Chopra mentioned that Rahul has been brought down by sickness or ailments at inappropriate times in a video that he posted on his YouTube channel (1:50):
“This has been the biggest problem in KL Rahul’s career. Injuries or illnesses have come at the wrong time and they have come many a time. When you feel everything is gone fine – injury, dengue or COVID – something or the other goes wrong with him. I feel Rahu is sitting in his kundali.”
Before giving up a catch to Rehan Ahmed at deep midwicket off debutant Tom Hartley, Rahul amassed 86 runs in the first innings of the first test of the series. During his 22-run knock in the second innings, he appeared at ease at the crease, but Joe Root trapped him in front of the wickets.
The former India opener believes the loss of the Karnataka player is a major blow to the home team.
“The way he played in the first innings, and to be fair, he was batting assuredly in the second innings as well. There are very few people in our team who play the sweep. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul play the sweep, and KL Rahul will now not be there in this game,” he said.
You can go towards Sarfaraz because he can play in an unorthodox fashion – Aakash Chopra on KL Rahul’s replacement
Aakash Chopra believes that Sarfaraz Khan will be a tempting choice for Rohit Sharma and co. to replace KL Rahul, even though they will have to select between him and Rajat Patidar.
“Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar are available with this team. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli are still not there. They will have to play either Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz. You can go towards Sarfaraz because he can play in an unorthodox fashion and is a very good player of spin,” he elaborated.
The former cricket player who is now a commentator believes Patidar could edge out the Mumbai batter. In 55 first-class games, Patidar has amassed 4000 runs at an average of 45.97. He has also scored hundreds in his last two outings against the England Lions.
In contrast, Sarfaraz has participated in 45 first-class matches and amassed 3912 runs at an average of 69.85. He also scored 161 runs in the second unofficial Test match against the Lions.
“However, Rajat Patidar is ahead in the pecking order, as he was with the team earlier. So, he might get the nod as he has come after scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket and playing a lot of spin,” Aakash Chopra added.