For India’s second Test against Australia in Delhi, KL Rahul was selected ahead of Shubman Gill. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the Indian vice-captain and captain Rohit Sharma are scheduled to open the second innings.

Recently, Rahul has come under fire for not consistently converting his starts into big scores. Critics have questioned the team management’s support for him due to his inconsistent play and 34.08 batting average after 46 Tests.

In any format, KL Rahul has not performed as well with the bat in a long time

Fans have been questioning his place in the Playing XI because he has failed to deliver. In contrast, despite his poor performance, the Indian team management has shown unwavering faith in the opening batter.

For the second Test match against Australia, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid included Rahul in the team. At the Arun Jaitely Stadium in Delhi, the second match in the series is currently taking place.

In place of Rahul, who struggled in the first match in Nagpur, fans anticipated that in-form Shubman Gill would be given a chance in the XI. The 30-year-old scored 20 runs in the inning on the 72 pitches he faced. He lost his wicket to debutant Todd Murphy in India’s lone batting innings.

It’s important to note that Gill, who scored a century in the first Test in Bangladesh in December 2022, is having a good time in white-ball formats. Given Gill’s explosive form, his exclusion and Rahul’s selection caused fans to take to Twitter to express their displeasure.

Here’s how twitter reacted:

On the other hand, Aakash Chopra has previously stated that KL Rahul is being unfairly targeted and that the team should keep the opener in the starting lineup for India’s second Test match against Australia.

“I don’t see much scope for change in the Indian batting. Only one – Shreyas Iyer will come and Suryakumar Yadav will go. A little pressure has been created on KL Rahul. I hope he has a good match because the guy plays well and people are unnecessarily targeting him,”

he said in a video published on his YouTube channel.

Chopra continued by stating that KL Rahul should not be dropped simply because Shubman Gill, an experienced player, is awaiting selection.

“I know Shubman (Gill) is sitting outside but the incumbent player does not become bad because someone is sitting out. It is Cheteshwar Pujara’s 100th Test, so I am expecting him to have a good game,”

he added.