'KL's numbers, one of the lowest among Indian players..': Veteran batter issues stern warning to Rahul amid rise of Gill

India's flamboyant batter KL Rahul hasn't had a good year as far as his batting form is concerned and the latest in the list is the just concluded Test series against Bangladesh. India might have whitewashed Bangladesh in the two-match Test series with a close-fought three-wicket victory in the second match on Sunday (December 25), but Rahul's lackluster saga with the bat continued to haunt him, especially when he was given the onus to lead the team in absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma. In the last Test against Bangladesh, he could manage to amass mere 12 runs including both the innings (10 & 2). 

Meanwhile, India's veteran cricketer Dinesh Karthik has called out on Rahul's continuous flop show with the bat in Tests and has hinted the Men in Blue to look beyond him especially when the team has a bright prospect in the young turk Shubman Gill with the quintessential Australia Test series around the corner.

Rahul has been India's regular opener for quite a good time now alongside Rohit and also had a decent outing with the bat against England last year in the four Tests India played as part of 2021 series. But following a dismal outing in Bangladesh, Karthik pin pointed Rahul's lowly batting average which is in mid-30s, despite playing over 40 Tests, which is certainly the lowest in the current Indian Test set up.

“I would give KL those couple of Test matches, but if things don’t go KL Rahul’s way… The one thing that does go against him is the fact that he has played over 40 Tests and his average is just mid-30s. That is not acceptable for an opener. That is one of the lowest among Indian players for sure, who have played 35 Test matches," Karthik told Cricbuzz.

India's will be pitted against the mighty Australia in the home series which is slated to start from February 3. Karthik said that if Rahul fails to score big hundreds in the contest, he might just permanently pave way for young Shumban in the India XI.

"That is something that he needs to definitely work on. That will be on his mind. If he wants to cement his place in the Test team, he needs to get a couple of hundreds against Australia. Otherwise, you can definitely see a change, with Shubman Gill doing so well," he further added.