KL Rahul raises his bat after scoring a crucial half-century against Australia in the first ODI (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Salman Butt feels that the BCCI selectors should be blamed for dropping KL Rahul despite Shubman Gill being in the squad.
KL Rahul silenced his critics with an unbeaten 75 as Team India beat Australia by five wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing ODI series. During the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023, Rahul’s form was questioned and the former Indian vice-captain was dropped from India’s playing XI for the last two matches of the Test series.
However, the 30-year-old responded in brilliant fashion, helping the hosts recover from a precarious situation after the hosts were reduced to 39/4 in their chase of 189.
Rahul struggled to score runs with the bat and was bullied by fans and pundits alike. However, after playing a crucial innings, the right-handed batsman has boosted his chances of playing in the final of the World Test Championship in June.
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, however, believes that the BCCI’s decision to stick with Rahul left him exposed.
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Butt said that instead of playing a player like Shubman Gill, who replaced Rahul in the last two Tests, the BCCI was responsible for the latter’s struggles.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt said that the selectors should be blamed for backing KL Rahul despite Shubman being in the team.
“KL Rahul was criticized a lot during his lean patches. I believe India’s selection committee is responsible for criticizing Rahul. They kept playing him even though he was out of form. They exposed him by doing this despite having players in form like Shubman Gill in the team,” Butt said.
“Yes, you need to give confidence to your players, but it can also be done through communication and you can save them from unnecessary criticism,” the veteran added.
While Gill scored a century in the fourth Test, the opener struggled in the first ODI against Australia in Mumbai. His teammate Ishan Kishan also failed to make an impact while Kishan is expected to be on the bench, with regular skipper Rohit Sharma set to make a comeback after missing the series opener due to personal reasons.
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