KL Rahul is concerned about his spot, just doesn’t have that full freedom: Shane Watson

KL Rahul. (Photo Source: Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

After his poor form with the bat in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the selectors removed KL Rahul as the vice-captain of the Test side while the team management dropped him from the final two matches of the series. His Test future is currently under the scanner, especially now after youngster Shubman Gill hit a brilliant century in the fourth and final match of the series. Gill has shown his class and thus, it would be difficult for Rahul to make a comeback in red-ball cricket.

Meanwhile, talking about KL Rahul, former Australia international Shane Watson feels that the cricketer is concerned about his position in playing XI and thus, is not playing with absolute freedom. He believes Gill is full of confidence and exuberance and that’s the recipe behind his success but when it comes to Rahul, he hasn’t looked confident in the last few games.

“The biggest thing about KL Rahul would be allowing himself the freedom just to take the game on. What Shubman Gill has done is come in and…yes he is playing on a very nice batting track as well compared to the other Test matches. But again, Gill is full of confidence and has got that real young exuberance with his aggression in taking on the game,” Watson said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

“Unfortunately for Rahul, because he is concerned about his spot, he just doesn’t have that full freedom and fluency to make use of the skill that he has got. I am a huge fan of Rahul. I love the way he plays. Beautiful to watch. The biggest thing is that let that pressure go and take the ball as it comes because he has got immense skill and can take on and take down and defend the best balls in the world in all conditions. So that will be a big learning for him,” he added.

Watson backs Rohit Sharma as Test captain

Under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, India have done well in the longest format of the game. Now, if the team manages to win or draw against Australia in the fourth Test, they will qualify for the finals of the World Test Championship and that shows that the team is currently going in the right direction.

Meanwhile talking about his captaincy in Test cricket, Watson stated that Rohit is an experienced leader and has got people like Rahul Dravid with him, who can guide him in this format.

“Rohit is a very experienced captain. Yes as a Test captain it is his first real big series, but he is an experienced leader and has got some great people around him like Rahul Dravid, who is a very special person himself. So any direction or guidance that he needs will come from him. The beauty of Rohit taking over India captaincy is the experience he has got and the success he has had having led Mumbai Indians, albeit in the shorter format,” the former cricketer concluded.