Last Updated on 2 years by Tarkesh Jha

Indian opener KL Rahul is set to miss out on a spot in the playing XI to Shubman Gill in the third Test against Australia in Indore that will begin from March 1, Indian Express reports.

Rahul was stripped off the vice-captaincy as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not name any deputy to Rohit Sharma for the remaining two Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The 30-year-old’s place in the lineup has been under scanner for a considerable time now considering his string of low scores in recent matches.

Rahul has aggregated 38 runs in the first two Tests of the series so far and averaged merely 17.13 in the four red-ball games that he played for India in 2022. Rahul led the team in the series in Bangladesh in December in Rohit’s absence but Gill made a mark then with his debut century as the Gujarat Titans (GT) opener scored 114 in Mirpur in the second game.

Since that series, Gill had set the international stage on fire with dominant performances in the limited-overs series’ against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in January. He scored a double century against the Kiwis and also brought up his maiden T20I ton against them in Ahmedabad. Many expected the Punjab opener to hold on to his spot in the XI thereafter but he lost out to Rohit once the skipper returned to the fold in the ongoing series.

Both Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid publicly placed their trust on Rahul as the Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) skipper copped criticism from many quarters after falling for one in the second innings of the game in Delhi.

“I think he needs to trust his processes. This is just a phase, he has been one of our most successful overseas openers. He’s got hundreds in South Africa and England, we’ll continue to back him,” Dravid told the official broadcaster after the second match.

Rohit was fronted with a similar question and the captain fell back to Rahul’s aforementioned centuries in England and South Africa to strengthen the case for him to continue featuring in the playing XI. The Indian skipper has fought a similar phase in his own career previously, having failed to cement his place in the Test setup until he was promoted to open in the beginning of the 2019 home season.

He perhaps resonated with the same and expressed, ““I was asked in the past about a lot of players, and if the guy has potential, guys will get that extended run. It’s not just about KL, but anyone.”

“If you look at the couple of hundreds he got outside India, two of the best I’ve seen from KL, especially at Lord’s – batting on a damp pitch, losing the toss, put in, and playing in England is never easy, and he put in a great performance there, and Centurion was another one. Both came in India wins, so again, that’s the potential he has,” Rohit added.

Regardless of these comments, the latest reports seem to suggest that the long rope that Rahul has received in red-ball cricket might conclude soon – starting with the game in Indore itself.