Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has put his weight behind under-fire KL Rahul to savour success in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. Gavaskar recalled how the Karnataka batter scored one of the finest centuries as an opener on the 2021 tour of South Africa. 

Rahul scored a brilliant knock of 123 runs at the SuperSport Park, Centurion and played a key role in India’s 113-run win against the Proteas. Gavaskar reckons Rahul will need the rub of the green on his side as an opener to find success in the Australian conditions.

Sunil Gavaskar said on PTI, “KL Rahul got one of the finest centuries that I have witnessed first-hand in South Africa last year opening the batting, so doing so here again won’t be an issue for him.”

“Like all batters, he will need some luck at the start and if he gets that he can get the team off to a solid opening,” he added.

But, Rahul didn’t have luck on his side as the third umpire Richard Illingworth decided to overturn the on-field decision of not out despite not enough evidence on DRS.

Meanwhile, Gavaskar reckons it will be crucial for India to move on from their 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand and focus on the Australia series.

“Just like a batter is trained to forget the previous delivery and focus on the next one, so do good teams forget what’s happened in the previous Test match and concentrate on the next one.”

“With the experience in this team, I am sure they will guide the youngsters to look at the next one and not think about the previous one,” he added.

India are struggling after electing to bat first as they are 59-5 on the opening day’s morning.