KL Rahul has performed exceptionally well in the role of a wicketkeeper since taking on the responsibility. Initially, he took on the wicketkeeping duties shortly during the ICC ODI World Cup and continued to do so in the recently concluded ODIs against South Africa, where India secured a 2-1 victory under his leadership. However, his abilities will face scrutiny as he takes on the role of wicketkeeper in the longest format of the game during the upcoming Test series against South Africa which will start on December 26.
Andhra wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat has been included in the squad as a replacement for Ishan Kishan who opted out of the upcoming series. However, head coach Rahul Dravid has explicitly stated that KL Rahul will be the designated wicketkeeper in the Boxing Day Test.
While having a conversation with the media, Rahul Dravid said, “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.
Dravid confessed that there are different challenges in keeping the wickets in Test Cricket, but he thinks KL Rahul is the right contender for it.
“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.
