Is KL Rahul being wasted in the Test squad?

When KL Rahul last played a Test match for India, ‘bubble’ and ‘quarantine’ hadn’t become regular fixtures of our vocabulary. His last assignment, in Kingston, saw him painfully labour for runs, out of sync, depth, and the usual fluency that form the core of his sparkling batting. In his last innings, he battled 63 deliveries for a contribution of six. Soon after, he was replaced up top by Rohit Sharma, who has enjoyed a stunning Test renaissance.

Rahul’s Test career went into hibernation thereafter, but he continued to pile on the runs in IPL and white-ball cricket, albeit with an additional shield of caution. During lockdown, he revealed having sleepless nights worrying if he’d ever be the same player when cricket returned. Several of his contemporaries would have gone through the same insecurity, and the subsequent boxed up bubble life didn’t make it easy for those who weren’t consistently stepping out on the field. In the Test squad, Rahul was one of them.

After a gruelling IPL 2020, which saw him end as the highest run-getter, Rahul moved straight into the bubble for the Australia tour. Three ODIs were followed by as many T20Is, where he was the primary wicketkeeper, and more importantly, the vice-captain. His impressive showings over the last few years were rewarded with greater responsibility and it looked like Rahul, the white-ball player, was doing just fine.

But there were no signs of re-entry in the Test XI. He watched from the sidelines during a stunning series win and had to leave the series midway due to a wrist issue. It wasn’t entirely sure what his role was in the squad: there were a trio of openers initially available in Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw, and Rohit Sharma slotted in soon after. Room in the middle order was probably in the offing, especially after the barrage of injuries, but his own wrist trouble meant Mayank was employed in a makeshift role in the final Test at the MCG.

For the home series against England, Rahul spent the entire series on the bench as India completed a comfortable series win. There seemed to be no place for him to return, but he kept finding the additional spot in the squad. Now, he’s in for the long haul for a tour of England, with the team as full-strength as it has ever been. The Gill-Rohit pairing is likely to continue at the top, and Ravindra Jadeja’s return has increased the traffic in the middle order. If there ever was a way to return through the wicketkeeping route, that has been blocked by Rishabh Pant’s rapid ascension.

Is there merit in keeping Rahul in the team from July to September then, if he’s only likely to spend time sitting on the sidelines in England?

It’s imperative that a big squad travels for long tours such as the England one, and the Australia trip was a good reminder as to how things can change in the sport due to injury. But even while Rahul most likely sits by the ropes, a white-ball team will be travelling to Sri Lanka for a quickly assembled series of ODIs and T20Is. In a T20 World Cup year, every such series is an opportunity to solidify your preparation further, and with the sudden suspension of IPL 2021, the trip could prove to be a blessing. Even more so because India aren’t scheduled to play any other T20 games until the W0rld Cup begins.

Would it not have made more sense then, that Rahul, a stellar T20 performer over the last few years, had travelled with the second team instead? It would have given him a chance to get consistent game time, and presented him with an opportunity to be an active part of the leadership group. Rahul may have fallen a rung or two with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan back in the mix as first-choice T20I openers, but with his consistent contributions in the IPL (his average is 57.71 across the last four seasons), Rahul is likely to have a role to play in the World Cup at some point.

It might seem heartening that management has continued to back Rahul, the Test player, even with the mounting competition for slots. It might just end up being counter-productive though; a younger batsman could have, perhaps, taken his Test spot and earned valuable experience of English conditions as an understudy. Unless, of course, there’s a specific role for Rahul in the Test team, or the chance of stepping up when the opportunity presents. Neither seems likely for the 29-year-old, probably in the prime of his career, who might end up spending most of the English summer sitting on the side, watching replays of his fellow white-ball players sealing their spots ahead of the T20 World Cup. For a batsman as immensely talented as Rahul, you’d hope he gets out in the middle sometime soon.