“He will always be in the shadows of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli” – Aakash Chopra on KL Rahul’s India future

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra feels KL Rahul will always be under the shadows of big batters like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rohit and Virat have been vital cogs in India’s wheel and they have been consistent performers in all three formats of the game.

On the other hand, KL Rahul was ignored in the T20 World Cup, which India won after beating South Africa in the final. Rahul has returned to the Test team against Bangladesh after recuperating from an injury. Rahul returned with scores of 37 and 57 in the Duleep trophy match against India B and he is expected to be part of the playing XI against the Tigers.

“I personally like KL Rahul as a player. He will have to score runs. If he keeps scoring runs, he will keep moving forward. His fate is that he will always be in the shadows of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. These are the big guys. I feel Rahul is super talented, super skilled,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

The renowned commentator reckons Rahul has faced unfair criticism at times in his career.

“Future – he will keep playing until he keeps scoring runs. Although the team rates him very highly, an atmosphere gets created against him very quickly in Indian cricket. There are plenty of people who go after him,” Chopra observed.

Chopra also feels the flamboyant batter from Karnataka might not get more chances than he deserves.

“So he won’t get as long a rope as you would give to anyone else with the same caliber or pedigree. If it’s up to me, I would definitely give it because he has scored a lot of runs and difficult runs,” he stated.

The opening Test match between India and Bangladesh will be played in Chennai from September 19.