KL Rahul was dismissed for 16 runs against Bangladesh in 1st innings© BCCI/Sportzpics
One of the finest batters in Indian cricket, at least from the technical standpoint', KL Rahul has hadn't a smooth journey at the top level over the last few years. Already out of Team India's T20 scheme, Rahul failed to make his presence count as he earned the spot in the playing XI for the first Test against Bangladesh. In the first innings, Rahul could only hit 16 runs off 52 balls, but he never looked comfortable in the middle. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels the issue with Rahul is entirely temperamental.
"This has been the KL Rahul story. It's amazing that he plays a brilliant innings at the Test level and the next two three innings it seems like he has got a pair in the last Test. Even when you saw him bat today, it almost seemed like an innings without purpose. That can happen, it happened to me in the second half of my career where everything was internal," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
Manjrekar cited his own example, as he tried to explain the phase Rahul is going through at the moment.
"I went in to bat just thinking about my technique and am I going to play the ball well, imagining a certain kind of delivery coming my way. And I've got to play instead of going to your instinct as a batter which I think all the other Indian batters practice that is about getting runs. Even if you're defending looking for ones and twos," he added.
Despite being a veteran of 50 Test matches, which have seen Rahul produce some fine hundreds, the batter averages just 34, a big concern for Manjrekar.
"That is more a temperamental problem for KL Rahul that has plagued him for 50 Test matches because the number that he has. He's got some brilliant hundreds but an average of 34. He's got hundreds, not one or two, quite a few and in testing conditions but the average of 34 tells you about his temperament and that we got to look at it today as well," he added.