KL Rahul: The one who showed form in IPL 2025 reached England, who will be sacrificed in the practice match..

After T20 in IPL, now it is time to prove the best in Tests, for which many players reached England with India A before the Test series, while some players are now joining the team. England KL Rahul is all set to take part in India A's second unofficial Test against England Lions from June 6. This raises a relevant question in front of us - at what number will a star like K Rahul bat? Rahul gearing up for the upcoming five-match Test series against England is a good initiative, but it has become a headache for coach and captain Abhimanyu Easwaran to decide where to place him in the playing XI.

Where should Rahul bat for India A?

Rahul will be expected to play the role of an opener in the Test series against England. After all, he had served as India's opener in the absence of Rohit Sharma in a few Test matches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With the former Indian captain retiring from Tests just before the UK tour, it is almost certain that Rahul will return as an opener. But this is where the problem begins. India A already have two set openers – captain Easwaran and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Both batsmen cannot be underestimated as they are specialist openers. Also, Rahul will not fit in the middle order and if he has to put up some good performance before the England series, he will have no choice but to open the innings.

Which player will be sacrificed?

Easwaran is the captain of India A and hence he cannot be dropped from the team. Meanwhile, Jaiswal also cannot be dropped as he is India's first-choice opener in the main team. India A's middle order is already full of star players, which includes the likes of Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, and Sarfaraz Khan. Placing Rahul anywhere between these three will make his role redundant. Rahul has scored most of his runs in Tests playing as an opener. The wicketkeeper-batsman has scored 2803 of his 3257 Test runs playing as an opener. He averages 40.02 and 30.05 playing at 1 and 2 and has scored 7 centuries and 14 half-centuries. Therefore, he becomes an automatic choice to replace Rohit as an opener. But if he wants some game time through the India A series, he will have to open the innings. Keeping him in the middle order will not do any good – neither for India A nor for Rahul himself.

PC Social media