With Rishabh Pant still continuing his rehab, the Indian cricket team management has turned to KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat for wicketkeeping duties in different formats.
While Bharat has been the preferred choice in Tests, Rahul and Ishan have been performing the role of wicketkeeper-batter in white-ball cricket.
However, during the West Indies tour earlier this year, Ishan was given his Test debut and Bharat warmed the benches across the two games as India won the series 1-0.
With Rahul fully fit and available, the selectors have expressed their confidence in the senior cricketer to replicate his dual role in Test cricket having naming him as a wicketkeeper alongside Ishan in the squad for the South Africa tour.
However, former India pacer Dodda Ganesh doesn’t seem to be a fan of Rahul being burdened with the additional responsibility and advised the team to play him higher up the order and purely as a batter.
“KL Rahul as WK in tests? He should be at least batting at 3 if not opening. He’s too good a batsman to be pushed down to 5/6 with the wicket keeping duties. Hope better sense prevails and KL gets to play as a pure batter,” Ganesh wrote on X (formerly Twitter) after BCCI revealed the Test squad.
KL Rahul as WK in tests? He should be at least batting at 3 if not opening. He’s too good a batsman to be pushed down to 5/6 with the wicket keeping duties. Hope better sense prevails and KL gets to play as a pure batter #SAvIND https://t.co/PuXGN9GhQH— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) November 30, 2023
India have named a 16-man squad for the two Tests to be led by Rohit Sharma who alongside Virat Kohli have been rested from the white-ball leg of the tour.
Rahul last played a Test in February this year during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He picked up an injury during the IPL 2023 which forced him to miss the World Test Championship final and West Indies tour.
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