KL Rahul might miss out on proving his candidature for the Indian Test team’s wicketkeeper role thanks to an oversight by the BCCI, pointed out former India opener Aakash Chopra. KL Rahul kept for India in two Test against South Africa early this year and was named as keeper for England Tests as well.
However, KL Rahul suffered an injury that kept him out of the England Test series, and keeping duties fell on KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel. KL Rahul was the first-choice keeper for India in ODIs in the absence of Rishabh Pant.
India tried out Bharat, Jurel, and Ishan Kishan in Test matches, with Kishan and Jurel impressing one and all. But in a surprise move, KL Rahul kept wickets for India in two Tests against South Africa and this helped India have a better balance to their playing XI.
Ahead of the Indian team’s upcoming Test season, the wicketkeeper’s spot will be in focus. With Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan picked for the next Duleep Trophy tournament, up to five prospective cricketers were expected to compete for the two wicketkeeping slots in the Indian Test side.
KL Rahul doesn’t have a WK written against his name in the Duleep Trophy squad: Aakash Chopra
However, the BCCI, in an undetected move noted by former India cricketer Aakash Copra, has already eliminated one competitor from the competition. All five keeping options have been picked for the Duleep Trophy event, which will play an important role in selectors picking the final 15 for the home series against Bangladesh next month.
However, it appears that KL Rahul will not be kept in the red-ball event, as reported by Aakash on his YouTube channel.
Chopra pointed out that, unlike the other contenders, Rahul, who is in Team A for the Duleep Trophy, does not have ‘WK’ inscribed next to his name, which stands for wicketkeeper.
“KL Rahul cannot be a wicketkeeper. I mean you don’t even have ‘WK’ written after his name in the squad list. And since you picked Dhruv Jurel in that same team, it means, he will be the keeper. So, Rahul is no longer your keeper for Test cricket. And it is okay because he came at a time when Rishabh wasn’t there, you will definitely put Rahul in the playing XI.
He is also not the captain. He could have been in a different team as well. He or Pant could have been the captain instead of Abhimanyu Easwaran, but neither are captaincy candidates anymore,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
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