India vs Australia 2019: Where Does KL Rahul Fit in Virat Kohli-Led Men in Blue Squad For The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup?

India vs Australia 2019: Is BCCI looking at KL Rahul as the third opener?

India vs Australia 2019: Is BCCI looking at KL Rahul as the third opener? After a horrendous run in the Test series in Australia, Rahul got among the runs against England Lions where he scored 89 and 81 in two four-day games for India A. He also got a 40 in a limited-overs match and now finds himself picked for the Indian team. The Men in Blue will lock horns against Australia in T20Is and ODIs and it seems like a golden opportunity for the Bengaluru-born to cement his spot in the side for the World Cup, later this year. He last featured in an ODI for India in 2018, during the Asia Cup. He played as an opener and scored 60 since then he has not played an ODI for India.

So, Rahul could make it to the World Cup squad as a backup opener for Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. He could also slot in place of Ambati Rayudu if the No 4 picks up an injury. Rahul had a great start to his international career when he smashed a century on debut and then followed it up with decent scores of 33 and 63* in that low-key series in Zimbabwe. Since then, his career has tailed off as he registered paltry scores of 8, 5, 11, 4, 17, 7, 9*, 0 and 60.

For 1st and 2nd ODI: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohamed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Siddharth Kaul, KL Rahul.

For remaining 3 ODIs: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant.

For T20I series: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Markande.