A dedicated KL Rahul sweats it in the nets after yet another failure in Sydney

India’s ongoing four-match Test series against Australia has turned out to be equivalent to a nightmare for KL Rahul. After spending quite a few months in the sidelines, he made the cut when India toured England. However, he flattered to deceive in the series, barring a century at the Kennington Oval in London. The Karnataka batsman couldn’t do well against the Windies as well.

Nevertheless, the selectors persisted with him and included him in the 18-man squad for the Australia tour. In the first innings of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval, he perished early. However, he made amends in the second innings with a knock of 44 and it would’ve acted as a much-needed boost for the 26-year-old. But his poor run of form continued in the second Test match in Perth.

Another day, another failure for KL Rahul

The right-hander could score only a couple in the first innings and then got out for a duck in the second. The selectors ran out of patience with him and Rahul didn’t play the third Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (SCG). The visitors used two new openers- Mayank Agarwal, the debutant and Hanuma Vihari, who was promoted from the middle order- in that encounter.

Nevertheless, Rahul staked his claim into the team for the fourth and final Test at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). He opened with Agarwal, who turned up with his second half-century in the format. To his sheer disappointment, KL couldn’t make the opportunity count and got out to Josh Hazlewood after scoring nine from six balls. He promised with two boundaries, but couldn’t carry on.

Rahul tried to defend, but the ball shaped away and found his outside edge into the palms of Shaun Marsh, who didn’t make any mistake at first slip. In the meantime, Rahul didn’t get demotivated by the failure and went to the nets in order to practice hard. He is most likely to get another go in the second innings when the pitch at SCG is expected to be a tad difficult to bat.

Here is the video of Rahul’s practice

KL Rahul back in the nets. The runs aren’t coming but it’s not for lack of effort. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/p9OyF6OLWx

— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) January 3, 2019

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