Weighing in on India’s wicket-keeper debate within the ODI format, head coach Gautam Gambhir has backed KL Rahul to proceed within the position forward of Rishabh Pant for the Champions Trophy.
Rahul, who presided over the wicket-keeping gloves within the three ODIs towards England, made a considerable outing with the bat within the third sport in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, scoring 40 off 29 balls batting at No. 5. India posted a hefty 356 in 50 overs earlier than thumping England by 142 runs to seal a 3-0 whitewash win.
“In the intervening time, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us, and he’s delivered for us,” Gambhir instructed reporters after the sport. “And see, if you’ve received two wicketkeepers on this squad, you possibly can’t play each the wicketkeepers with the sort of high quality we’ve received. Hopefully, each time he (Pant) will get that chance, he must be prepared for it. That’s all I can say for the time being. Proper now, KL is the one who’s going to start out,” added Gambhir.
In Pant’s absence on account of his horrific automotive accident in December 2022, Rahul stuffed in because the wicket-keeper within the ODI World Cup 12 months in 2023. The 32-year-old aggregated 1060 runs in 24 innings with two centuries and 7 fifties. Rahul opened India’s World Cup marketing campaign in Chennai towards Australia with a match-saving 98 not out earlier than aggregating a complete of 452 runs in 10 innings.
In the meantime, Pant final featured in a ODI towards Sri Lanka throughout a three-match collection in August 2024 the place Rahul saved wickets within the first two video games. Pant fell stumped for six in that Colombo outing and has featured in 31 matches