India cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has confirmed that KL Rahul will be the first-choice wicketkeeper for the team in ICC Champions Trophy. He confirmed that the Karnataka keeper-batter will don the gloves behind the stumps for the marquee tournament while Rishabh Pant will continue to be benched. Rahul kept wickets for the side in the three-match IND vs ODI series, taking up a role that he is very much familiar with.
KL Rahul to keep wickets in Champions Trophy
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Gambhir confirmed that Rahul will be picked ahead of Pant for keeper duties in Champions Trophy. He addressed benching Pant and said that while both players had great qualities, the southpaw would continue to be on the sidelines but should be ready for any opportunity.
“At the moment, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us, and he’s delivered for us. And see, when you’ve got two wicketkeepers in this squad, you can’t play both the wicketkeepers with the kind of quality we’ve got. Hopefully, whenever he gets that opportunity, he should be ready for it. That’s all I can say at the moment. Right now, KL is the one who’s going to start,” Gambhir said.
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Rahul is no stranger to wicketkeeping. He did so for India throughout the 2023 ODI World Cup in the absence of Pant. The southpaw had to sit on the sidelines for over a year since his horrific car crash in December 2022.
While Pant provides India a balance by being left-handed, he cannot be picked over Rahul, especially since the latter is India’s best number five batter. Besides, Axar Patel’s promotion up the order has worked wonders, with the southpaw acing his role with the bat.
India will commence their Champions Trophy campaign by taking on Bangladesh in their first group stage match on February 20.
