“Hopefully, we can have a turnaround”: Assistant coach Abhishek Nayar expects KL Rahul to deliver on expectations

Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 26 (ANI): India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar is hopeful that KL Rahul will soon deliver on the expectations and performances that are associated with him.

Rahul has been going through a dry spell with the bat for some time. He is working his way up to slowly integrate himself into the team again after being ruled out of the England series due to injury earlier this year.

He made his first Test appearance for India since the England series against Bangladesh in Chennai. He failed to leave a mark against Bangladesh in the first inning and lost his wicket to Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a score of 16.

Ahead of the second Test, Nayar revealed that he and head coach Gautam Gambhir had conversations with him, but Rahul’s turnaround could take some time.

“When you are playing for India, inspiration is something that you don’t need. Sometimes it is just direction. With KL having spent a little time with him in the past few days, I think he understands his game pretty well. I think, in South Africa, he played tremendous knocks for India. So we are hopeful for the kind of conversation that Gauti bhai (Gautam Gambhir) and I have had with him. Hopefully, we can have a turnaround in KL as well. These things sometimes take time,” Nayar said in the pre-match press conference.

In the second inning of the opening Test, Rahul showed glimpses of returning to his former self by striving hard to find consistency in his game. He didn’t have much time to continue with his high-flying knock.

In his 22* off 19 deliveries, Rahul garnered runs at a strike rate of 115.79 and found the rope on four different occasions.

For Nayar, the way Rahul performed is a sign that he is going to live up to the expectations that are associated with him.

“But I feel with the way he is batting, I know we didn’t give him much of a shot in the second inning in the last game. But the way he was batting in the second innings is the kind of cricket we are hoping and expecting from him. I am pretty sure going forward, we will see those expectations and those performances,” Nayar added.

Rahul has so far played 50 Tests in his career, where he has managed to score 2863 runs at an average of 34.08 with the help of eight centuries and 14 fifties. He will be keen to find the purple patch that he is longing for in the second Test.

The second Test of the Bangladesh series will begin on Friday in Green Park. India decided to retain the same squad from the first Test.

India squad for the 2nd Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.