KL Rahul is a treat to watch on his day but have got temperament issue, says Sanjay Manjrekar

India is playing KL Rahul at No.4 in the warm-up matches ahead of the ICC World Cup. In the first warm-up against New Zealand managed just six runs in 10 balls and against Bangladesh in the second warm-up, he has played a handy knock. The 27-year-old batsman is never doubted for his talent but he has somehow not lived up to the potential, getting too long stretches of poor form. Rahul had two successful stints in the IPL but in international cricket, he has failed more often over the last several months.

One of those rare Indian batsmen who have centuries in all the three formats, Rahul has played in 14 ODIs so far, scoring 343 runs at an average of 34.30. In the Test arena, the batsman started off well but his form was so ordinary in South Africa and England last year that his fate hanged and it was because Prithvi Shaw got injured just ahead of the Test series in Australia that he got chances. Rahul though failed to make use of the opportunity in the three matches that he played in the historic series.

Rahul thereafter faced a temporary suspension following a TV controversy along with Hardik Pandya. He missed the ODIs in Australia and New Zealand but showed some form against a visiting English team at home. He has played only one ODI this year which was against Australia in Mohali and scored 26 in it.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar recently rued that Rahul takes too much time to regain form once he loses it, adding that the batsman is as good as anybody else when he gets going.

Rahul doesn’t bounce back from poor form, feels Manjrekar

“This guy (Rahul), when he plays well, he is as good as anyone. It’s a treat to watch. Just oozes class. But I do believe he has got a slight issue with temperament. When he fails, he just doesn’t bounce back as well as some of the other batsmen,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying while ranking India’s middle order batsmen in the World Cup to ESPN.

He gave the batsman six out of 10 taking into consideration his self-doubts and current form.