"More to do with rigidity of the management to persist with a player who just hasn’t looked the part. No top order batsman in atleast last 20 years of Indian cricket has played these many tests with such a low average.
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In the middle of a terrible slump, India opener KL Rahul continued to face harsh criticism on social media sites on Saturday. Rahul, who was out for 17 on Day 2 of the second Test, was the target of social media trolls. The 30-year-old was trending on the internet for all the wrong reasons, and the Indian team administration, which has been ignoring Rahul’s out-of-form status for a long time, was met with outrage from netizens. Even former India bowler Venkatesh Prasad took a swipe at Rahul, re-posting the Test opener’s numbers.
After Nathan Lyon took five wickets to turn what appeared to be a big deficit on a challenging Delhi pitch into a one-innings shootout of a Test, India’s powerful lower order, led by Axar Patel, once again played a critical role. The hosts had dropped to 139 for 7, with Lyon doing most of the damage in the first two sessions, as Australia’s opening-day 263 took on daunting proportions. Nevertheless, Axar and R Ashwin combined 114 for the eighth wicket to narrow the gap to one run.
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By the end, Australia had swiftly increased that to 62. Travis Head, who started in place of the substituted David Warner, got off to a very aggressive start, but they lost Usman Khawaja to a spectacular paddle-sweep catch at leg slip. Marnus Labuschagne, however, gave Australia’s purpose a clear indication by hitting three fours off Ravindra Jadeja in a single over. But if not for Axar, the game would have probably already left India. He produced a fantastic inning, with some of his off-side strokeplay standing out, especially a flat cover-drive six against Todd Murphy. When he was seeking to get loose after R Ashwin left the field, it took a quick catch from Pat Cummins at mid-on to put an end to things.
