KL Rahul has the experience of playing in English conditions: Aakash Chopra

Team India’s five-match Test series against England begins in less than two days. Nottingham’s Trent Bridge is all set to host the first Test match. 

Cricketer-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra has opined that Karnataka-born batsman, KL Rahul will get the opportunity to play in the middle-order during the Test series. In the recently concluded one-off practice match against Select County XI in Durham, the 29-year-old scored a brilliant century.

“KL Rahul has the experience of playing in English conditions. He has scored a Test hundred in England and got one in the warm-up match as well. He is now playing as a middle-order batsman. He can definitely get a chance. There is an opening in the middle-order, which is why Prithvi Shaw and Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) have been added to the squad,” Aakash Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

Considering India’s slight imbalance in the batting department, Aakash Chopra feels KL Rahul could be an ideal option whom the management can bank upon.

“Team India has weaknesses in the batting. Abhimanyu Easwaran apparently doesn’t seem in good form. The opening pair of Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma are yet to prove themselves in overseas conditions. One is not sure about Hanuma Vihari’s consistency with the bat. So looking at all the factors, KL Rahul can definitely get a look-in. I think he can play as an opener also but as of now it seems he will bat in the middle-order if he plays,” he added.

India’s squad: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, and Suryakumar Yadav.