Indian cricket's way-too-long sabbatical ends in eight days' time as some of the country's most beloved stars return to action when India take on Bangladesh in the 1st Test against Bangladesh next Thursday. It'll mark the first time in over a month that the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah will be back in national colours as India's fresh home season gets underway with one eye on the World Test Championship final next June. India are aware of the threat Bangladesh possess following their historic 2-0 Test series in Pakistan; hence, the BCCI took no chances and announced a star-studded fully-strengthened squad for the two Test series.

Even though certain names such as Mohammed Shami and Shreyas Iyer did not make the cut owing to respective reasons, that Sarfaraz Khan has been persisted with in the middle-order adds to the problem of plenty for captain Rohit and head coach Gautam Gambhir. However, with Sarfaraz's direct competition for the No. 5 slot, KL Rahul is likely to get the preference, given he never lost his place and was replaced by Sarfaraz only due to injury in the Test series against England.

Having said that, Rahul has his work cut out. Coming back from injury is never easy and for someone like Rahul, who has a history of getting injured, he will have to start from the scratch. Rahul has been in and out of all three Indian squads far too many times, and former India opener Aakash Chopra reckons it's time he breaks free out of the 'shadows of Kohli and Rohit'. Yes, despite being a veteran of 50 Tests, 77 ODIs and 72 T20Is, Chopra feels Rahul has a point to prove, and no better way to do so by scoring lots and lots of runs.

"I personally like KL Rahul as a player. He will have to score runs. If he keeps scoring runs, he will keep moving forward. His fate is that he will always be in the shadows of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. These are the big guys. I feel Rahul is super talented, super skilled. He will keep playing until he keeps scoring runs. Although the team rates him very highly, an atmosphere gets created against him very quickly in Indian cricket," Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

What does the future hold for KL Rahul?

Rahul has been the floater of this Indian team. When needed, he has kept wickets and been shuffled up and down the order as per the team's requirements. Last year, with Rishabh Pant out injured, Rahul transitioned into the role of a wicketkeeper and did a bloody good job of it. Even in Tests, with the emergence of youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, Rahul gave up his spot as opener to slot in the middle order, where he has fared reasonably well.

Rahul was sidelined from India's T20I set-up last year and with youngsters knocking on the door, the chances of him returning are slim. As for Tests, in his last three matches, Rahul scored a century against South Africa at Centurion and a solid 86 in the series opener against England at home. And yes, Rahul continues to be criticised, something that upsets Chopra. Despite being backed to the hilt, Chopra does not see Rahul having a long future in India's Test set-up unless he scores heaps of runs.

"There are plenty of people who go after him. So he won't get as long a rope as you would give to anyone else with the same caliber or pedigree. If it's up to me, I would definitely give it because he has scored a lot of runs and difficult runs," he added.

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