Venkatesh Prasad's tweet on K.L. Rahul: What to make of it, and will it change anything?

Also read: Who can replace KL Rahul, who's on the edge in the Test match format?

The provocation for Saturday’s thread, one assumes, is Rahul’s performance in the first Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia in Nagpur. The Test vice-captain made a measured 20, in an hour and a half and off 71 deliveries, on the first evening, clearly the less dominant partner in an opening stand of 76 with his skipper, Rohit Sharma. Seemingly having bedded in for the long haul, Rahul was dismissed in the penultimate over of the day, becoming debutant Todd Murphy’s first victim by offering a tame return catch in further reiteration of his painstakingly circumspect self.

Captains and coaches past (Virat Kohli/Ravi Shastri) and present (Rohit/Rahul Dravid) have spoken glowingly of Rahul’s immense skills, and seemed aghast when asked why he was being given such a long rope. At the T20 World Cup in Australia, Dravid put up a stirring defence despite his namesake having had three ordinary games at the top of the order. “He's a fantastic player and he's got a proven track record. He's done really well, he's been batting superbly. We know his quality, we know his ability, he's got a good all-around game. Both in words and in action, over the last year, he knows he has our support. That's the great thing about Rohit, that he's really shown them (all players) that confidence and that belief.”

Dravid’s observations point to not just chances for players to prove their worth without the fear of instant results or instant axe hanging over their heads, but also to the quality of opportunities. From the time the Rohit-Dravid management team has been in place, they have been open about looking beyond statistical contributions. Therefore, they will point out that while Rahul might only have made 20, he was one of the reasons for India's good start in reply to Australia’s 177. Within the dressing-room, they have told us more than once, they value these nuggets as much as a hundred or a five-wicket haul. It's the philosophy they have embraced and if there is a consistency to that thought process, then at least one can reconcile to the fact that they are putting their money where their mouth is, no matter whether we agree with them or not.

Coming specifically to Rahul, who is into his ninth year at the highest level, his time as a T20 international great is almost certainly behind him. With the next World Cup a little over 15 months away, there is a paradigm shift in thinking, the decision-makers seemingly eager to form a younger core under Hardik Pandya. The 30-year-old’s place in the 50-over setup is hardly under question, given how impactful he has been in the middle-order while also keeping wickets. The current Prasad question mark revolves around Tests, of which India have three more lined up in the next four weeks.

Using the period from the beginning of 2020 as the yardstick, Rahul’s Test numbers are better than Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli’s. In 10 games, Rahul has struck two centuries and averages 32.52; in the corresponding period, Kohli averages 25.80 in 21 Tests (no hundreds) and Pujara 29.79 in 24 Tests (one century). Both of Rahul’s hundreds came in overseas victories, against England at Lord’s (August 2021) and South Africa in Centurion (December 2021). From the start of 2021, he has only played five Tests and averages 17.44 – which can be viewed in one of two ways; he has either grossly underperformed, or he hasn’t had a string of matches to indicate that his form is horrible.

Given how much stress this management group puts on quality of opportunity, there is no immediate threat to Rahul’s place, despite the giant shadow of the supremely gifted and wonderfully in-form Shubman Gill looming large. Such stalwarts as Sunil Gavaskar have thrown their lot behind the beleaguered opener, who can’t but be aware of the social media storm triggered by his senior Karnataka colleague. He is smart enough to know that there is only one way he can make his statement – with the bat. Kotla next week won’t be a bad time for a riposte, otherwise the clamour for change will grow exponentially.