‘Don’t forget’: Karthik urges Rohit, Gambhir to back KL Rahul as India opener

India continued to struggle with their batting in the third Test match against Australia in Brisbane. The team was facing yet another defeat before rain intervened and helped them secure a draw in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy match. KL Rahul emerged as the lone warrior for India in Brisbane, taking on the responsibility of opening the innings for the series. In a stellar performance, Rahul scored 84 runs off 139 balls, hitting eight boundaries, as India managed to post a total of 260 in their first innings, in response to Australia's 445.

The first innings saw the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal (4), Shubman Gill (1), Virat Kohli (3), Rishabh Pant (9) and Rohit Sharma (10) get dismissed cheaply. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja also came up with a crucial knock, slamming 77 off 123 balls. Meanwhile, Akash Deep got a gritty knock of 31 runs off 44 balls. The second innings came to a halt with India reaching 8/0 in their chase of 275 runs, due to rain.

With Rahul looking like he has once again established himself at top of the Indian batting order, former player Dinesh Karthik backed the wicketkeeper-batter and asked fans not to have a ‘short memory’. He also felt that Rohit and head coach Gautam Gambhir made the right decision to promote Rahul higher up the batting order.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, he said, “I believe, in KL Rahul, we have the opener that India needs. I hope they continue to back him. If, within the next year, there's a series where he has a couple of low scores, I hope people don’t have a short memory. We need to appreciate what he has done and what he is doing today. That matters a lot. People often forget that many Test cricketers are judged on what they do abroad. And Rahul has been as good as anyone who has played for the country over an extended period.”

“People always complain about his consistency; I don't want to use that word. But he takes it upon himself. His average shows that. But he is far better than that. He is someone who is much, much better than that.

“But, if you take any Indian team planning to tour abroad, he will be one of the first names on that list because you know exactly what you will get from him,” he added.

In the second Test when India folded for 180 in the first innings, Rahul got his side’s second-highest score, registering 37 off 64 balls. Meanwhile, his performances in the first Test saw captain Rohit Sharma demote himself to the middle order on his return. Opening with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul hammered 77 off 176 balls in the second innings. Meanwhile, Jaiswal got a ton, smacking 161 off 297 balls.