Former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly believes KL Rahul can have a major impact in Test cricket and said that he’d be more than willing to give him a long rope.
Rahul, who captained the Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2020, leads the charts for the most runs scored in the season despite his side being knocked out at the league stage.
“I have a lot of time for KL Rahul in Test matches and I am saying that as a cricketer. But, at the end of the day, it is the selector that decides who plays and who doesn’t play,” Ganguly told India Today.
Ganguly said that he hopes to see Rahul, who has played 36 Tests and has scored five centuries, contribute to India’s winning causes.
“Just as somebody who has played the game, I feel he (Rahul) is someone, who will contribute in all forms of the game. I wish him all the luck. Hopefully, he contributes to the winning cause of India which is important.”
According to the former captain, the current India team led by Virat Kohli and coached by Ravi Shastri needs to perform when they are playing in South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia.
“He (Virat) must sit back and understand that he has to play better away from home. Yes, Australia was a good series that they he had won (in 2018-19) but they should have done better in South Africa, England (both 2018) and New Zealand (2020),” Ganguly said.
The key to winning an overseas series lies in batting well, which happened in Australia during the previous tour.
“They are a capable side and they must have learnt from that. Everyone has to bat well. We lost in England because no one got Test match hundreds apart from Virat Kohli, Pujara. We won in Australia because Pujara got you 500 runs, Virat got a hundred, Pant got a hundred.
“That’s how you are going to win the series. Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon are good bowlers. They need to fight hard and buckle down. This is a good side and everyone has to get together to beat Australia in Australia.”
Ganguly also backed India’s bowling unit and said that there was plenty of quality with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma showing the way for younger players such as Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj – in its ranks.
“So India has the attack, it’s about Virat working with them and getting them to be at their best. It’s for him to decide as captain whom he wants to attack with and which stage he wants to attack with – whether it’s an Ashwin or a Bumrah or Saini, or Sharma or Jadeja. It’s his captaincy skills.”
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