Pant, Kishan, Sanju Samson, or KL Rahul? Coach Dravid Solves Wicket-keeper Equation By Stating MS Dhoni Name In The Discussion

After the injury of Rishabh Pant, India is trying all the available options to fill his Place. KL Rahul was not available for the series against New Zealand due to personal commitments and Ishan Kishan was asked to don the gloves.

Rahul was the team’s first-choice keeper throughout the series against Sri Lanka, but Kishan, who was in fine form, was recalled for the three One Day Internationals against New Zealand. KL  Rahul and Shreyas Iyer were ruled out of the New Zealand series.

The head coach was questioned about if Team India is searching for a wicketkeeper-batter in the vein of Rahul Dravid in the roll to the 2023 World Cup during the pre-match press conference on Monday before the third ODI against New Zealand. In the early  2000s, a specialist batter like Dravid was appointed India’s full-time wicketkeeper to allow talented young players like Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, and Virender Sehwag.

While responding to the reporter, the Indian head coach praised the newer generation of wicketkeepers before making a special mention of the famous wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni. When Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik, and MS Dhoni arrived, batting legend Dravid was freed of his wicket-keeping duties.

Dravid responded, “We always looking for a wicketkeeper-batsman, there is no question about it. I think since there has been MS Dhoni, in white-ball cricket, the days of specialist wicketkeepers are gone unfortunately. We are lucky and we are fortunate that all of the guys who are in contention, even in this team you know whether it’s Ishan Kishan or KS Bharat are both good batsmen and have done well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Bharat hasn’t played but Ishan has obviously done well as a batsman.”

Ishan Kishan was added to the Test squad for the first two Tests of the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. 

Srikar Bharat, who is also chosen in the Test squad for the Australia series, will compete against Kishan. The same pair is included in the ODI squad for the current series against New Zealand. Jitesh Sharma is also included in the competition. The Vidarbha wicketkeeper-batter received his first call against Sri Lanka when Sanju Samson was ruled out from the series due to a knee injury.

Dravid added, “There is Rahul there, Samson is there, but unfortunately, Rishabh is injured. All of these guys are wicketkeeper-batsman. I think today, you have to be a wicketkeeper-batsman. You should be able to bat and contribute significantly. We have also picked up Jitesh Sharma in the T20 mix because of his ability to bat and score runs at a very quick pace as he has shown in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and in the IPL that he has played. So yeah it’s given now that all teams need a wicketkeeper-batsman.”

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