Indian head coach Rahul Dravid announced KL Rahul to be the wicketkeeper for IND vs SA Test series. However, former India cricketer Parthiv Patel expressed his disappointment with the decision. The reason is Rahul’s lack of game time as a keeper-batter in First Class cricket.
With KS Bharat warming the bench, Parthiv Patel is surprised why India would pick someone with little to no experience in keeping 90 overs a day.
“India’s test match wicketkeeper should be someone who is keeping regularly in Ranji trophy or first class cricket,” Parthiv Patel opined on Twitter.
Notably, KS Bharat is the other wicketkeeper in the Indian squad who has been a regular keeper in first-class cricket for Andhra.
But with Rishabh Pant still recovering, KS Bharat has failed to light it up with his willow even though doing well with the big gloves. Hence, Team India have decided to give KL Rahul a go in IND vs SA Test series.
Rahul Dravid in a pre-match press conference confirmed discussions with Rahul around keeping wickets in the IND vs SA 1st Test. The head coach added that the wicketkeeper-batsman had already donned the gloves in the 50 overs format and that it wasn’t any easy task.
“It’s an exciting challenge. It’s an opportunity for him to do something different. With Ishan unavailable, we had a couple of keepers to choose from. Rahul is very confident about giving it a go. We understand that he hasn’t done that quite often in longest format, but he has done it in fifty overs, and even that is tough,” Rahul Dravid said.
Dravid added that there would be more pace bowling than spin and that hence Rahul would ease into the new role. The head coach noted that the keeper-batsman was excited for the challenge, adding that he has agreed to try it out and has been putting in the hard work in the nets.
India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran.
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