Twitterti unhappy with the exclusion of KL Rahul for the Delhi ODI

The fifth ODI between India and Australia got underway at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. The series is drawn 2-2 with Australia winning the last two ODIs at Ranchi and Mohali after India won the first two matches in Hyderabad and Nagpur. The Aussies won the toss and chose to bat first, leaving the Indian team to chase a total on a difficult Delhi pitch under lights.

Meanwhile, after losing the toss, Virat Kohli was asked about his team composition and Kohli mentioned that they were going to the game with five proper bowlers, with Bhuvneshwar adding to the batting depth. India brought in Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami into the team and left out Yuzvendra Chahal and surprisingly, KL Rahul from the final XI. With Rahul’s exclusion, the focus shifted on Indian team management’s strategies on the team combination for the World Cup.

Indian team and no.4 batting spot

For the last year and a half, the Indian team has been searching for a capable batsman at the no.4 sport. Since 2017, India has tried Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, KL Rahul and many more at the spot and none have managed to cement the spot.

Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu sparked some excitement with their performances, but Rahane’s inability to rotate strike against spinners in the middle overs cost him his spot despite playing in every match of the South Africa ODI series in early 2018.

Rayudu, on the other hand, came through as the answer with his century against West Indies and his match-winning innings of 90 against New Zealand. But his failure to make runs consistently meant that the Indian team was back to square one. India even tried to move Virat Kohli to no.4 spot and brought in KL Rahul to bat in no.3. He scored 26 runs but didn’t look convincing enough.

Twitterati not happy with Rahul’s exclusion

As Kohli announced that Rahul had made way for Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI for the Delhi ODI, Twitter blew up with reactions over his exclusion as the netizens were not happy with the treatment being met out to Karnataka batsman.

Shouldn't KL Rahul be given more chances if he is being looked as a 3rd opener? @StarSportsIndia @cricketaakash @IrfanPathan

— Madhav katyal (@Madhav_Katyal) March 13, 2019

Again KL Rahul Misses out.. this is why no one sustains with the Kohli decision.. definitely should have given a chance to Rahul 🤨

— Deepak Reddy (@DeepuPJ4) March 13, 2019

KL Rahul dumped after just one game !! Well, he just gets to play 1 ODI match every 6 months. This is simply ridiculous #INDvAUS

— Ramachandra.M/ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ.ಎಮ್ (@nanuramu) March 13, 2019

@_rroy
Interesting to see Vijay Shankar at no. 4 but feel for kl Rahul should have got another opportunity

— JatinArora:HISAR (@JatinaroraH) March 13, 2019

KL Rahul dropped again ?? How much good will that do to his confidence ??

— Affanzain Junaidi (@AffanzainJunaid) March 13, 2019

ground is small and flat and we are playing with Jadeja, why ?, he can't bat and can't take wickets he's only good in fielding, chahal should've been in this match, i don't remember when did KL Rahul play three odi continously #INDvAUS #INDvsAUS #5thODI

— Amar Rana 🏏 (@amar_tilakrana) March 13, 2019

Yuzvendra Chahal and KL Rahul out from playing XI… And Virat Kohli feels … It is the most balance Indian side.
Interesting.. views?? #indvsaus

— 🇳🇵जय नेपाल 🇳🇵 (@santoshpokhreli) March 13, 2019

Way should be not playing kl rahul and yc chahal#NerolacCricketLIVE

— Goswami Sanjay Puri (@GoswamiSanjayP1) March 13, 2019

Where is kl Rahul….#Rip batting order

— Vishnu Das🇮🇳 (@vishnu55242198) March 13, 2019

Why you people play jokes about Kl Rahul. He can't bat at 4. Team gave chances in 4 position and you can check his stats at 4.

— Saikrishna V 🇮🇳 (@Sai_Tweets_) March 13, 2019

Don't know why KL rahul was just played for one game?

— Jatin (@LogicalBakwaas) March 13, 2019

So KL Rahul goes to world cup without getting proper game time. I am not saying he should not go.
But should have at least play couple more matches.
And How will u pick Rayudu if u have dropped him here??? #INDvAUS

— CricMan (@cricadil12) March 13, 2019

KL Rahul is dropped again. Has Team management have finally lost their patience with him? The way things are going, I don't think Rahul will get selected for WC #INDvAUS

— Abhishek (@abhishek2526) March 13, 2019

"The combination we are playing today is more or less the combination we would play in the World Cup…"

Kohli.

Also, Shami and Jadeja have replaced KL Rahul and Chahal.

Really?#INDvAUS

— Suneer (@suneerchowdhary) March 13, 2019

@_rrroy_ Kl should play over Rayudu.. Rayudu is a 'conditions apply' batsman whereas Kl Rahul is very versatile batsman…

— Kaushal Gaonkar (@_engico) March 13, 2019

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