Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra feels KL Rahul scoring even 250 runs in the three-match Test series against New Zealand will be a good series for him. Rahul could not deliver the goods in the opening Test match against Bangladesh at Chennai however he played a fine knock of 68 runs off just 43 balls at Green Park, Kanpur in the second Test.
Rahul has not lived up to the expectations in Test cricket as he has scored 2969 runs in 52 Test matches at an average of 34.52. The right-hander has the experience under his belt and he is going to hold the key in the middle-order in the five-match Test series against Australia.
Sharing his expectations from India’s top six batters, Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “It’s a three-match series. Let’s start putting some parameters as to what performance will you term excellent. You get four to five, and sometimes six innings as a batter. If the two openers are in the 350-400 run bracket, you are outstanding. You assume at least 200-250 runs for an average series.”
“It’s the same parameter for Shubman Gill at No. 3 and Virat Kohli at No. 4, that if it’s an excellent series, 350-plus, or else I would say 300 to 350 will also be considered a good series. You might have slightly lesser expectations from KL Rahul. A good series for KL Rahul can be even 250 runs because he bats very low,” Chopra added.
Chopra added Rahul’s performances need to be judged differently as he bats in the lower-middle order.
“When you bat so low, it’s time for declaration at times and you bat with the tail on a few occasions. He might not get to bat in the second innings at times. All those things do happen. So probably slightly fewer runs for him, but till Rishabh Pant, the top five, the criteria are almost similar for everyone,” he explained.
On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had a spectacular series against Bangladesh. Chopra expects the all-rounder duo to score 150 runs and take 15 wickets each.
“Then come our two all-rounders. What is expected from them? 15 wickets and 150 runs. They actually score more, they make 200-250, but with 15 wickets and 150 runs, you will say that they have had a good series. You will expect 12 to 14 wickets from Kuldeep as well because he is the third spinner,” he said.
The renowned commentator doesn’t have much expectations from the fast bowling duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj as the pitches will not be favorable.
“Among fast bowlers, if Bumrah plays all three matches, 13 to 14 wickets is fairly good. You are happy if you get 10 to 11 wickets from Siraj in a three-match series because you don’t get that much bowling,” Chopra reasoned.
The toss for the opening Test between India and New Zealand has been delayed due to rain.
