Sunil Gavaskar compares Rahul-Karun to Dravid-Viswanath combination

India emerged right on top after the end of day 4 play in the ongoing Chennai Test. The English team thought they had their task covered when they got the wickets of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply yesterday. But it was the Karnataka pair of KL Rahul and Karun Nair that proved to be too hot to handle for the visitors. Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian captain, absolutely loved the duo in action in the match. KL Rahul scored a brilliant ton and was unlucky to have missed out on a double ton. When Karun Nair came out to bat, he was expected to be dismissed as had been the case in the previous few matches.

However, the 25-year old was the talk of the town as he went on to do something only Virender Sehwag had managed to do for India in Test matches thus far. A triple ton from Nair and a gritty 199 from Rahul set the tone for India’s dominion in the game. Sunil Gavaskar remarked that the state of Karnataka is renowned to produce masterclass batsmen. He went on to compare the two with two of the legends of the game – Rahul Dravid and Gundappa Viswanath.

“Karnataka has two benchmarks in batsmanship. One is Gundappa Viswanath and the other is Rahul Dravid. I think Nair and Rahul’s innings were a combination of the two,” Sunil Gavaskar quoted in an exclusive with NDTV.

He further reasoned out why he believes so. “We saw the discipline and temperament of Rahul Dravid and the flair and stroke play of Gundappa Viswanath in both the innings,” he added.

The success of Karun Nair will surely cause selection conundrums for India when Ajinkya Rahane comes back to the team. However, the former cricketer believes it is always nice to have more options on the bench. He looked content with the plethora of replacements available.

“When Ajinkya Rahane comes back it will be a tough call for the selectors. Anyways having more options is always good. Ajinkya Rahane may not have got runs in the series but he has been consistent before that. So, it’s always good to have replacement ready,” Gavaskar conceded.