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India v/s England: Rahul gets SOS call from Team India

Karnataka opener asked to leave Ranji Trophy match and join Kohli and Co for second Test starting on Thursday

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Opener KL Rahul proved his fitness by scoring 76 and 106 for Karnataka against Rajasthan in Ranji Trophy
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With Gautam Gambhir failing to give India confident starts, Virat Kohli and Co have sent out an SOS signal to KL Rahul.

And the team appears to be desperate as the Karnataka opener has been asked to leave a Ranji Trophy match midway and join the national side in time for the second Test against England to be played at the ACA-VDCA Stadium, Vizag, from Thursday.

The dashing batsman was added to the India Test squad by the selectors on Tuesday, the Board of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) said in a mail to the media. Rahul was out after injuring his hamstring during the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur.

Rahul was not in the team announced by the selectors was for the first two games against England.

And to call Rahul from an ongoing domestic game, where he scored 76 before following it up with 106 against Rajasthan, only exposed India's weakness with the bat in the first Test on a not so turning Rajkot track.

The call to Rahul has more or less ruled out Gambhir from the playing XI in the next Test.

The Delhi opener in his second coming has been far from impressive, despite the talk of him coming back to the team with change in stance and attitude. He hasn't done wonders to himself and team and looked out of sorts.

Gambhir, who has been pale shadow of himself, has scores of 29 and 0 after scoring 29 & 50 in his comeback Test against New Zealand in Indore last month.

Ever since Rahul broke into the international scene, he has been impressive and equipped with sound technique and beautiful timing.

As India are expected to play their next few matches on rank turners, they would be in the need of technically sound players who can take on the more than effective English spinners.

Opener Murali Vijay did a fine job with the bat in the first Test. But to deal with the England seamers the batsman has to be tight and focussed which Rahul is.

The combo of Rahul and Vijay will be a worrying sign for their opponents though.

Even if skipper Virat Kohli goes with the same combination of Gambhir and Vijay, Amit Mishra might be dropped to accommodate Rahul. Much like how Rohit Sharma played in the Tests against New Zealand, but the chances are minimal and Rahul is a top order batsman.

Head coach Anil Kumble though was happy with Rahul's return. "He had an injury in Kanpur. And since then, he was not available for any of the Test matches against New Zealand nor for the one-dayers. He has recovered now and as per the protocol, we wanted him to go and play a first-class match and I think today he got a hundred.

"In the first innings, he got 70-plus against Rajasthan. Since the match was happening very close to Vizag, it's good to have him in the squad and he is available for selection," he said.

However, he chose to stay away from speculations if Gambhir will make way for Rahul. "I think it is still two days. Yes, Rahul is available for selection and you would want Rahul to be in the starting line-up, that's the reason he has been included."

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