'He'll Be A Different Player': Ravi Shastri Wants KL Rahul To Realise His Talent

KL Rahul, who was preferred over Sarfaraz Khan in India’s playing XI for the ongoing first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, came out to bat at No. 6 in the second innings on Saturday (September 21), and with the help of four fours, he remained unbeaten on 22 runs from 19 balls. During his stay at the crease, he also crossed the 8000-run mark for India in international cricket. The 32-right-handed batter has 2901 runs to his name in 51 Tests, 2851 runs in 77 ODIs, and 2265 runs in 72 T20Is.

He has a total of 8017 runs in 200 matches played so far across formats. After Rahul became the 17th Indian batter to score 8000 runs in international cricket, IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a post to congratulate him.

“8K International runs, Infinite talent and KLass! We love you ♾000, KL Rahul #PlayBold #TeamIndia #INDvBAN,” the post read.

Rahul, who made his IPL debut in 2013 for RCB, has been heavily linked to the Bengaluru-based franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. On a number of occasions in the past, the right-handed batter has also expressed his desire to play for the three-time losing finalists in the IPL.

‘He needs to realise’

During the second session of the third day’s play, former India captain and head coach Ravi Shastri came up with a piece of advice for Rahul by saying that the Karanataka-based batter has got so much talent but he needs to realise that.

According to Shastri, who served as India’s head coach from 2017 to 2021, the day Rahul realises his talent, he will be a different player.

“KL Rahul needs to realise that he has got much talent. The day he realises that and comes out with a mindset and thinking in that fashion. He will be a different player,” Shastri said while commenting during the first Test.

Rahul, who made his Test debut for India against Australia in Melbourne on December 26, 2014, has struggled with consistency because of which he has already lost his place in the T20I side, and his place in the Test team was also questioned after the flop show in the first inning.