KL Rahul or KS Bharat: Rahul Dravid Ends Speculations Over Wicketkeeping Conundrum in Boxing Day Test

KL Rahul has done a terrific job behind the stumps since getting for the role. He kept wickets briefly in the ICC ODI World Cup and continued donning the gloves in the recently concluded ODIs against the Proteas which India 2-1. But his calibre will be tested when he takes the field in the longest format of the game. The Test series against South Africa, starting Tuesday, will see Rahul keeping wickets in red-ball format.

Andhra wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat is also in the squad as a replacement of Ishan Kishan who opted out of the forthcoming series. However, head coach Rahul Dravid has clearly indicated that KL will be the man behind the stumps in the Boxing Day Test.

Addressing the media on Sunday, Dravid said the management has discussed the role with Rahul and the latter is pretty confident about it.

“I see it as an exciting challenge, an opportunity for him to certainly do something different. Obviously, with Ishan not being available this opportunity came up, we had a couple of keepers to choose from and Rahul is one of them.

“We had discussed with him and he was very confident and was keen on giving it a go,” Dravid said during a media interaction.

While Dravid understood that the challenges of keeping in Tests was entirely different but he trusted the fellow Bengaluru man to do a good job, having shown decent abilities in the 50-over version.

“We do understand it is not something he has done as often (keeping in Tests). But he has been doing it regularly in 50 overs cricket and that takes a lot out of your body. He has prepared well over the last five to six months, he has done a lot of keeping,” Dravid said.

Having Rahul as keeper also gives the team the cushion of an extra batter, which in this case is Shreyas Iyer. Had Kishan played, one specialist batter among Rahul and Iyer would have had to make way for him.

“It’s really nice to have him for the option he provides us. His ability with the bat will be useful and he has kept in white ball cricket and the question is of transforming that into red-ball cricket,” the coach added.

(With PTI Inputs)