KL Rahul's career would have ended had he played in Indore: Kris Srikkanth

Former India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth is thankful that KL Rahul was dropped for the third Test against Australia in Indore as he believes that his career may have ended if he had played on such pitches. The Indore track also received a poor rating from the ICC. 

Rahul has struggled to get going in Tests in the last two years, managing just 175 runs from 11 innings in the format since the start of 2022. As a result, India roped in Shubman Gill for the third Test.

In the ongoing series, Rahul has looked out of sorts, having managed just 38 runs from three innings with a highest score of 20.

"First and foremost, I am happy for KL Rahul. Thankfully, good that he did not play. If he had played on these wickets and failed to get going in the next two Tests, and if his career had ended... thank God, he didn't play. Frankly, speaking," Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

"On these pitches, batting is very difficult. Whoever it is, batting is difficult. Let it be anybody, be it Virat Kohli, no one can score runs on these pitches. If you looked at it, [Matthew] Kuhnemann, bowling in the first innings, got the ball to rip through and turn square. 

"On these wickets, taking wickets is not a big thing. Even if I had bowled, I would have picked up wickets. These are all hard talks, we have to accept them," he further added.

Srikkanth also went on to express his unhappiness over the surfaces prepared for the series thus far. None of the matches have gone beyond Day Three so far. Srikkant believes that it is not a good advertisement for Test cricket.

"Not a good advertisement for Test cricket at all," he said.

"They are doing a mistake. Yes, if you see the 2008 series against Australia. The pitches weren't rank turners but India would win the series 2-0. But here, the ball is turning square from Day 1. It's hard to watch the batting on these pitches. It's not a good advertisement for Test cricket."

With wins in Nagpur and Delhi, India went 2-0 up in the four-match Test series, but Australia bounced back in the third Test, winning the game by nine wickets and qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, scheduled to be played in June. A win for India in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, starting March 9, will also see them make it to the summit clash.