Gautam Gambhir puts faith in KL Rahul ahead of IND vs AUS 1st Test: ‘If Rohit is not there…’

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has heaped praise on wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul ahead of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy match in Perth. Gambhir also confirmed that Rahul could be one of the options the team management considers if captain Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the Perth Test.

Speaking at a press conference before departing for Australia, Gambhir highlighted Rahul’s versatility, noting his ability to fit anywhere in the batting lineup as needed by the team

“KL Rahul can bat in the top order, he can bat at 3, he can play at 6 - so you need a lot of talent to do all these jobs & he keeps in ODIs - imagine how many countries have players like KL and he is one of the options if Rohit is not available,” Gambhir said

Meanwhile, Gambhir also confirmed that Abhimanyu Easwaran and KL Rahul are the two options considered by team management in case Rohit is not available to open during 1st Test. He said, “There is KL (Rahul) there. There’s Abhimanyu Easwaran there. So, we will take a call closer to the first Test match if Rohit is not available. It’s not that there are no options. There are quite a lot of options in the squad,”

No clarity on Rohit playing 1st Test:

Meanwhile, Gambhir declined to confirm whether Rohit Sharma will be available for the Perth Test. He said, 'There is no confirmation on Rohit as of now; hopefully, he will play. We will let you know before the series.'

The Indian head coach also praised Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma despite their recent rough patch. He referred to Rohit and Kohli as ‘tough men’ who have done a lot for Indian cricket and will continue to do so in the future.