Michael Vaughan defends KL Rahul's performance in Border-Gavaskar Trophy
What's the story
Former England cricket team skipper, Michael Vaughan, has defended Indian cricketer KL Rahul's performance in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Vaughan emphasized that Rahul struggled after being pushed to No. 3 in the fourth Test in Melbourne.
This was because India's captain Rohit Sharma had reclaimed his position as opener.
Performance review
Rahul's performance in the series
Rahul had a promising start to the series, scoring 234 runs across the first three Tests, including two half-centuries.
However, his performance dipped in the Boxing Day Test with scores of just 24 and 0.
This led to India's defeat by a massive 184 runs.
Despite returning as opener for the fifth Test in Sydney, Rahul could only manage scores of four and 13.
Player accolades
Vaughan praises Jaiswal and Reddy's performances
In a video on the YouTube channel 'Club Prairie Fire,' Vaughan rated Rahul's overall performance 7/10.
"He [KL Rahul] was great when he started the series at the top then they moved him down. I thought he was hard done too."
He also praised Yashasvi Jaiswal, India's highest run-scorer in the series with 391 runs from 10 innings. Vaughan called Jaiswal "the next superstar of the world game."
He also praised Nitish Reddy for his maiden Test century in Melbourne.
Series recap
Reddy's performance and Gilchrist's interview highlight
Reddy had a stellar 2024-25 BGT, scoring 298 runs from nine innings at an average of 37.25. His highest was a commendable 114.
However, he struggled with scores of one, zero, and four after his century in the first innings of the fourth Test.
Meanwhile, Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist recalled an interview with Reddy's father for Fox Sports at MCG as one of his broadcasting career highlights.