NEW DELHI: In response to KL Rahul’s recent sub-par performance, former India captain Sourav Ganguly stated the 32-year-old has to talk to himself in order to boost his confidence.
After smashing 68 against Bangladesh in the Kanpur Test, Rahul appeared to be getting back to form and had the ideal opportunity to gain confidence throughout the New Zealand series.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
However, after scoring 12 runs in both innings of the first Test, he was left out of the starting lineup for the final two matches against the Kiwis.
Ups and downs are a natural aspect of sports, according to Ganguly. He went on to say that Rahul is under a lot of strain because the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), an Indian Premier League (IPL) team, released him before the tournament’s 2025 super auction.

“He has to speak to himself. He has to speak to himself and say, just put everything behind. Ups and downs are part and parcel of sports. Confidence will go up and down. You have to bring it back by working hard in the nets. I know he has gone through a lot. Lucknow Super Giants have released him. I do not know whether they will buy him back in the auction. I am sure he will find a good team and get his worth in the IPL. But these things put pressure on players,” Ganguly said while speaking to Revsportz.
Ganguly added, “He (Rahul) has been in and out of the team, has seen young players play well in T20, you’ve seen what they’ve done in South Africa. But then he has to change. He cannot expect to keep playing the same way and expect to get picked all the time because somebody else will come and get picked. So I think he’s got to sit with himself, get away from everything, get away from all his friends and family, team, IPL owners and IPL auction and look at the mirror and say ‘I need to play differently, I need to get tough inside and fight the period. He’s got a hundred in South Africa last time they want, excellent hundred in Centurion. He can scores hundreds in these conditions, but the mind has to believe that and the fight has to be there.”
When asked whether Rahul should open for India in the Pert Test in the event that captain Rohit Sharma is not available, the former head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed.
“I think so and play Dhruv Jurel in the middle,” Ganguly added.