Indian legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar believes KL Rahul will get another opportunity and he will play in the Delhi Test match against Australia. Rahul was dismissed after scoring only 20 runs in the first innings of the opening Test match at the VCA Stadium, Nagpur.

While Rohit Sharma scored a magnificent knock of 120 runs, batters like KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav failed to get going for India. With an in-form Shubman Gill waiting in the wings, pressure is on Rahul to deliver for the team.

Rahul hasn’t been at his absolute best in the recent past and he will have to turn the tables in the second Test match. The Indian opener has scored 2624 runs in 46 Test matches at an average of 34.08 and one feels he needs to be more consistent for the team. In fact, Rahul hasn’t gone past the 30-run mark in the last eight Test innings.

“It’s a tough call because you have someone like Shubman Gill waiting in the wings. And what we have seen at from Axar Patel, he has been brilliant. Just tells you the bench strength is ready and waiting to be given an opportunity,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today after India won the first Test in Nagpur.

“My feeling is that Rahul will get to play in the next Test in Delhi. Maybe after that, they might have a look at it. But it is also fair for somebody who has been a regular part of Test XI to be given another opportunity,” he added.

On the other hand, India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour went on to back KL Rahul and added that the vice-captain had delivered in English conditions.

“To be fair to KL, the last 10 Test innings that he has played, he has a couple of hundreds and a couple of fifties. He has a hundred in South Africa, in England. I don’t think we are there,” Rathour had said.

The second Test match between these two teams will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi from Friday onwards.