: Nagpur win unable to gloss over Indias top-order batting woes as Rahul, Kohli fail again #IndiaNEWS #Sports,Cricket By B ShrikantNagpur, Feb 12 (IANS) Indias innings and 132-run win against World

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Nagpur win unable to gloss over Indias top-order batting woes as Rahul, Kohli fail again #IndiaNEWS #Sports ,Cricket
By B ShrikantNagpur, Feb 12 (IANS) Indias innings and 132-run win against World No. 1 Australia in the opening Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at Nagpur have done a world of good for its chances of clinching a berth in the World Test Championship Final.
However, the massive victory over the Aussies failed to paper over the problem areas in the Indian squad that may not have impacted the teams performance at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium at Jamtha here, but that will surely have disastrous consequences for the team on overseas tours and against better prepared and more determined opponents at home.
The Indian teams think tank will have to iron out these problems before the next round of selections for the third and fourth Tests against Australia but taking some drastic decisions for the second Test against Australia to be played at New Delhi from Friday (Feb 17).
Though India won the first Test and took a 1-0 lead in the series, their overall performance was not as perfect as they would have liked.
The major concern is the batting lineup, though the bowlers did well and even the pacers claimed a wicket or two. Axar Patel would have loved to have claimed more than the one wicket he has for the entire match, he made up more than enough with his superb lower-order batting that helped India beat Australia in Nagpur.
The elephant in the room, so to speak, is the failure of Indias top-order batting barring skipper Rohit Sharma, who scored a magnificent 120, starting aggressively initially but toning his aggression down later and batting in normal Test style.
But it is the meagre returns by his opening partner KL Rahul and predecessor Virat Kohli that are the issues that the Indian team management needs to solve. Rahul struggled around for 71 deliveries for 20, failing to capitalise on another opportunity. Rahul, who has scored 2624 runs in 46 Tests, last scored a hundred in South Africa at the Centurion in December 2021.
Though he managed a half-century in the next Test in Johannesburg, the 30-year-old from Bengaluru, who made his debut against Australia in Melbourne in 2014, has 8, 12, 10, 22, 23, 10, 2 and 20 in his Test innings since then.
Taking into account his struggles, former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad has questioned India chief coach Rahul Dravids selection policy and asked how many more chances will KL Rahul continue to get when the likes of Shubhman Gill and Sarafar Khan have staked their claims for Test spots.
I have a lot of regard for K. L Rahuls talent and ability, but sadly his performances have been well below par. A test average of 34 after 46 tests and more than 8 years in international cricket is ordinary.

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