"KL Rahul won't be playing as wicketkeeper in the series" - Rahul Dravid ahead of India vs England Tests
Team India head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed that KL Rahul will not be playing as a wicketkeeper-batter in the five-match Test series against England, set to begin on January 25 in Hyderabad.
Rahul was handed the wicketkeeping duties for the two Tests against South Africa. He was also among the three wicketkeepers India picked for the home series against England.
However, while speaking to the reporters on Tuesday, Rahul Dravid explained why KL Rahul will be looked at just as a pure batter in the upcoming series. He said:
"KL Rahul won't be playing as a wicketkeeper in the series. I think we were quite clear about that from the selection itself. We had picked two others who could keep for us."
Young Dhruv Jurel has been impressive in first-class cricket but has an experience of just 15 games under his belt. This could prompt the team management to show faith in wicketkeeper KS Bharat, who is coming off an impressive hundred for India A against the England Lions.
KL Rahul could fill Virat Kohli's void in India's middle order
Virat Kohli will not be a part of the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England, due to personal reasons. This has sparked an interesting debate about who would take his place in the middle order.
While the names of Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, and even Cheteshwar Pujara made the rounds, India haven't officially announced Kohli's replacement at the time of writing. This could mean that they trust KL Rahul to bat in the middle order.
After being dropped from the Test team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, Rahul made a sensational comeback in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa last month. He smashed 101 runs in the first innings in Centurion in seaming conditions.
However, it will be interesting to see how Rahul takes on the challenge of batting on potential rank-turners if given an opportunity. He could provide healthy competition to the likes of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer in the middle order throughout the series.