India defeated Australia in the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 by six wickets to go 2-0 up in the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy series. The Indian spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin once again stole the show as the pair shared all of the ten wickets in the second innings. While Jadeja dismissed seven Australian batters, Ashwin claimed the rest of the three wickets.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma (31 off 20), Cheteshwar Pujara (31* off 74), KS Bharat (23* off 22), and Virat Kohli (20 off 31) guided India in the chase of 115. However, KL Rahul failed once again as he was dismissed after scoring a solitary run. Rahul has managed scores of 20, 17, and 1 in the three innings he has played this series.
With the opening batter failing to score runs consistently, the cries for his exclusion from the team are getting louder and louder. Many former India cricketer like Venkatesh Prasad has raised serious questions on the Indian team management’s decision to back Rahul despite his elongated poor run of form.
Now, as Rahul has failed yet again, India's head coach Rahul Dravid, as well as captain Rohit Sharma, were asked if the management will keep backing the batter. And the answer was a clear yes from both individuals. “We trust KL Rahul; it happens to everyone. We will continue to support him,” said Dravid.
“Of late, there has been a lot of talk about his batting. For us, as team management, we always look at the potential of any individual, not just KL. I was asked in the past about a lot of players. If a guy has potential, he will get an extended run. Not just KL. If you look at the couple of hundreds he got, especially at Lord's, batting on that damp pitch. Centurion was another win. Both came in India winning both games. That's the potential he has,” said captain Rohit Sharma.
So, as it seems, Rahul will get a chance in playing XI for the third Test as well.