KL Rahul doesn't express himself the way he needs to, says Wasim Jaffer

Virat Kohli's India had a memorable tour to West Indies where they swept all the formats, winning T20s 3-0, ODIs and Tests 2-0 each. While the Indians return home happily, there were some glitches that the team needs to fix before they take up the next assignment, which is a full home series against South Africa.

Of all, the major disappointment in the highly-successful tour of the Caribbean was the inconsistent show by their highly skilful opener KL Rahul.

For all his potential and ability, Rahul has been looked upon as one of India's batting mainstays in all formats. But, his serious lack of consistent performances is gradually destroying all hopes that the Indian team management has been pinning on him ever since he broke into the side in 2014.

In the absence of the talented Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, who got a century and a fifty during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, was given another chance in Tests to face the new ball. But the 27-year-old returned with disappointing scores of 44, 38, 13 and 6 — finishing the series with a total of 101 runs at 25.25.

Like many, former India opener and domestic giant Wasim Jaffer, who scored a Test double century in the West Indies 13 years ago, is amazed and the same time disappointed with Rahul's consistent failures.

"I feel a little bit disappointed with KL Rahul because he has got so much ability, he is one of the guys who has got a 100 in all three formats. And, his mode of dismissal make me a bit disappointed because he gets out very softly at times. He has got a lot of ability and that is why he is getting so many chances, because people believe that he is going to come good," Jaffer said on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai on Thursday.

"The way he gets out and the way he doesn't get that many runs surprise me. I feel he has got a lot of ability, but I feel somewhere he is missing those puzzles in his jigsaw," he added.

Jaffer, who is also a batting coach for game development in Bangladesh Cricket Board's High-Performance Academy, said Rahul's struggle could be more mental than technical.

"Definitely it could be one of those things. I feel he just holds himself back and doesn't express himself the way he expresses probably in first-class cricket. But the moment he goes into international cricket, I feel that he holds himself a little bit. He has got the game, but somewhere I feel he doesn't express himself the way he needs to. I think he needs to come out and back his game. Sometimes, I feel he gets too defensive for no reason. He has got a lot of ability, he needs to score lot more consistently," added Jaffer.

The stylish opener had his opinion on Rohit Sharma too. Jaffer felt like ODIs, the Mumbai batsman can open in Tests too. "He can be looked up to as an opening (batsman) because Rohit has the ability. Nobody expected him to open in the ODIs and score these many runs. Once you put him in that position, only then you will find out."

Jaffer was happy with the team's performance in the West Indies, but he feels India should dominate in places like England, Australia and South Africa. "It was an exceptional tour (in the West Indies) as we did not lose a single match. Personally, I feel, we need to see the domination of Indian team in places like England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa... they have beaten Australia, beaten South Africa. But that is where India need to show their domination when they tour these places, we still need to win a Test series in England, we still need to win a Test series in South Africa," he said.

Jaffer had a word of advice for the young Prithvi Shaw, who has missed out back-to-back Tests series for various reasons. "He is missing out on a very important time in his career, because he is so talented and people expect him to do a lot more and with consistency. He needs to look at senior players who put cricket as their priority. He needs to look at himself and put cricket as priority and cut those things that are stopping him from doing that he needs to," he said.