KL Rahul's lean patch in T20 Internationals has put his Team India spot under threat. Rahul was India's leading opener in T20Is before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the entire world to a halt. He was in sensational form in the T20Is against New Zealand in New Zealand and was instrumental in India's 5-0 victory.
Post the resumption of competitive cricket, his returns have begun to decline. Rahul started off on a good note with a half century in the first match of the 3 match T20I series against Australia. He made 30 in the next T20I but was dismissed for a duck in the last match of the series in Sydney.
His returns in the five match T20I series against England were particularly worrying. Rahul was dismissed for just one in the 1st T20I against England at Ahmedabad. He was then dismissed for back to back ducks.
Although he got off to a start with 14 runs in the 4th T20I, he consumed too many deliveries and was ultimately dismissed cheaply.
At the same time, ViratKohli and Indian team management continued to back Rahul in the media. They reiterated that it was only a matter of one knock before his form came back to him. However, after four failures and the series on the line in the final match, the team decided to drop Rahul.
He was then given a go in the ODIs and did well, scoring close to 200 runs from 3 matches. However, with the formula of ViratKohli and Rohit Sharma opening the batting for India in T20 Internationals looking a mouth-watering prospect and the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan making a mark on their debut at the world stage and ShikharDhawan continuing to churn runs, it will not be easy for KL Rahul to reclaim his spot unless he puts in some memorable performances.
What adds to this narrative is Rahul's declining strike rate over the last few years. As opposed to a strike rate 158.41 in IPL 2018, Rahul struck at 135.38 in IPL 2019 and at 129.34 in IPL 2020.
Although the runs have continued to flow in the league, he would need to amp up his strike rate to make a bigger impact. For a batsman of the calibre of Rahul, it is not too much to ask.
