'That is not acceptable...': Dinesh Karthik issues warning for KL Rahul amid Shubman Gill's rising Test stocks

Stand-in captain KL Rahul had a good run leading the Indian team in the just-concluded Bangladesh Test, which the tourists won 2-0. He, however, fell flat as a batter while opening the innings with Shubman Gill. Rahul only managed scores of 22, 23, 10 and 2 in the four outings whereas Gill scored his maiden hundred in the format during the series opener in Chattogram.

After the Bangladesh Tests, India have a stern task ahead as they gear up to host Australia in the upcoming edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home, starting on February 09. Ahead of the marquee series, on home soil, veteran Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has issued a warning to Rahul to up his game or he will be left out with Gill's rising stocks.

“I would give KL those couple of Test matches, but if things don’t go KL Rahul’s way;the one thing that does go against him is the fact that he has played over 40 Tests and his average is just mid-30s. That is not acceptable for an opener. That is one of the lowest among Indian players for sure, who have played 35 Test matches,"Karthik said while speaking on Cricbuzz.

Karthik added, "That is something that he needs to definitely work on. That will be on his mind. If he wants to cement his place in the Test team, he needs to get a couple of hundreds against Australia. Otherwise, you can definitely see a change, with Shubman Gill doing so well."

There have been reports of Rahul being dropped from India's T20I line-up as well. The Men in Blue will host Sri Lanka, followed by New Zealand, in a white-ball series before the BG Trophy versus Pat Cummins' Australia.