Former Indian legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar believes KL Rahul should be given a long rope to prove his mettle. Rahul is making a return to International cricket after a long hiatus and he hasn’t been able to get going since making his comeback.

The flamboyant batter scored only 31 runs in two ODI innings against Zimbabwe. Subsequently, he was dismissed for a golden duck in the high-octane clash against arch-rivals Pakistan by debutant Naseem Shah on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Furthermore, Rahul trudged to 36 runs from 39 balls against a depleted Hong Kong bowling attack as he could not get any kind of momentum in his batting.

Sunil Gavaskar has backed Rahul to get back his Midas Touch and wants the team management to have faith in him.

Gavaskar said while talking to India Today, “I think KL Rahul is a class act. With the kind of performance he has had over the years for India… if you give others a long rope, why can’t we give KL Rahul a long rope?.

“He is your vice-captain as well. You give him a long rope because we have all seen what he is capable of in the T20 format.”

Meanwhile, Rahul had last played competitive cricket while leading Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2022. Gavaskar added that Rahul’s rhythm is missing as he is making a return after injury and he should be back on track after more game time.

“He is coming back from an injury, so that the rhythm is not quite there but the rhythm will come and when it comes, it will be devasting for the opposition.”

In fact, Rahul was in prolific form in the IPL 2022 as he had scored 616 runs in 15 matches and finished as the second-highest run-getter behind Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler. It is well known that Rahul is a consistent performer in the shortest format of the game and it is a matter of time before he gets back at his best.

India is likely to face Pakistan on Sunday in the Super four contest.