KL Rahul, despite his recent struggles in red-ball cricket, received a fair amount of backing from head coach Gautam Gambhir. In case captain Rohit Sharma is unable to feature in the opening Test against Australia in Perth, Gambhir indicated Rahul would be preferred over Abhimanyu Easwaran, thanks to his experience.

“There are times when you go with the experienced players, and that is the quality of the man (Rahul). He can bat at the top of the order, at No.3 and also at No.6. So, you need quite a lot of talent, and he has kept wickets too in the ODI format. Imagine how many countries have players like KL who can open the batting and bat at No.6 too!

“I feel if need be, KL can do the job for us, especially if Rohit is not available for the first Test,” Gambhir said, adding that Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the side in Perth in Rohit’s absence.