Gautam Gambhir comes out in support of under fire KL Rahul: 'How many countries have players like him?'

Gautam Gambhir comes out in support of under fire KL Rahul

KL Rahul has not been in the best of form, which led to the management dropping the star batter from India's playing XI in the red-ball setup. Rahul was dropped after India's humiliating loss against New Zealand in Bengaluru and remained on the sidelines for the remainder of the series, which India lost 3-0.

However, with India's star studded batting line-up crumbling in all the three Tests, the management decided to send Rahul and Dhruv Jurel to Australia earlier to get some game time ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The duo were part of the second unofficial Test between India A and Australia A and while Jurel presented a great case for himself, Rahul failed to get going in both innings.

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However, with Rohit Sharma expected to miss the series opener in Perth, which starts from November 22, it'll be interesting to see if he is recalled in the playing XI for the role of opener. India head coach Gautam Gambhir addressed Rohit's availability for the series opener and mentioned it'll either be Abhimanyu Easwaran or Rahul for the opening slot.

"Obviously there is (Abhimanyu) Easwaran and KL (Rahul). So we will take a call closer to the first Test match if Rohit is not available. We have options there, it's not we don't have options so once we get close to the first Test match, we'll plan the best playing XI, who is going to the job for us," the coach said addressing the press in Mumbai earlier in the day.

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Rahul was being used in the lower middle-order and now the team is looking him as an alternative to open the innings alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. When asked the same to Gambhir, India's head coach highlighted the qualities Rahul brings to the table.

"KL Rahul can bat in the top order, he can bat at No. 3, he can play at No. 6. So you need a lot of talent to do all these jobs, and he keeps (wickets) in ODIs. Imagine how many countries have players like KL!" said Gambhir.