Former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris recently talked about KL Rahul's selection for the upcoming Asia Cup. The Kiwi all-rounder has asked the BCCI "do they actually need KL Rahul in the squad?" He feels that Rahul’s absence has given opportunities to players like Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, etc. who excelled across multiple formats and conditions.
Rahul was included in the T20I squad for the series against West Indies but was ruled out after testing COVID-19 positive days ahead of the series. While speaking on a recent TV show, Scott Styris talked about how the Indian team has always managed to keep their players together especially when question on selections arise.
He said, “It's a different mindset for players because they don't want to be out and they don't want to be giving other players opportunities. I know India has a very good culture within its group, so it doesn't mind allowing other players opportunities all the time. I know as a player myself, you never wanted to give somebody else a chance to take your spot.”
Styris then addressed the KL Rahul question and spoke on whether his form could match the form shown by Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav. He said, "So with the fact that he's out injured and he's away from the team at the moment, it just means that other players are able to do what Suryakumar is doing, what Rishabh Pant is doing, getting in there, taking the chance scoring runs and really posing the selectors some questions saying, do we actually need KL Rahul?”
“Is he going to be in good form when he comes back? He has missed a lot of cricket, a lot of question marks now present themselves just because he's been able to give other players that opportunity,” he added.
Probable India squad for Asia Cup 2022:
Certainties: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Back-Up batters: Deepak Hooda/Ishan Kishan/Sanju Samson
Back-Up fast bowlers: Arshdeep Singh/Avesh Khan/Deepak Chahar/Harshal Patel.
Back-Up spinners: Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav/Ravi Bishnoi.