Former India player Aakash Chopra warns KL Rahul ahead of Tests vs England, says ‘you need to figure out…’

New Delhi: Aakash Chopra urges KL Rahul to maintain consistent performance throughout the upcoming Test series against England. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s retirements, Rahul is expected to open the innings and shoulder significant responsibility. Chopra notes Rahul’s tendency to start strongly but fade later in previous series, advising him to avoid this pattern.

“For Rahul, there is one thing in my mind that the entire series does not turn out to be good despite him getting off to a good start. Whether it is the series of Australia, the series of England, or the series of South Africa. The start was very good, but he tapers off towards the end. So at some stage, you need to figure out that it is not possible to make 80 in the first match and 100 in the second but then finish the series with an average of 30,” Chopra said on JioStar.

“I want a series of averages of 47, 48, 52, 54. And no better time to do this than now. Because you are not new, Rohit is not there, Kohli is not there. There will be more responsibility. KL Rahul is one of those who played the whole series last time. So KL, you have a little more responsibility,” he added.

KL Rahul has expressed his desire to return to the Indian T20I team, citing the upcoming T20 World Cup as a key goal.

“Yes, I want to get back in the T20I team and the World Cup is in my mind, but for now it is just trying to enjoy how I am playing right now,” Rahul said in a Sky Sports interview with Nasser Hussain.

“I obviously had some time to think about my white-ball game and white-ball cricket; I was quite happy with my performances and where I was. But there was a time probably 15 months ago or 12 months ago where I realised that the game is slightly getting ahead or it is changing and becoming much more faster, and I said this in an interview as well, that it is become more about the team that hits more boundaries is winning the games more often than the team that is, I cannot say playing smarter, but the team that does not hit as many boundaries is always finding themselves on the losing side,” he added.

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