In the upcoming Test series against England, KL Rahul will not be keeping wickets for India. It is said that the BCCI wants a “specialist” to fill the position.
KL Rahul, an experienced cricketer from India, has apparently been released from his wicket-keeping duties. During India’s tour to South Africa, Rahul took wickets for the first time in a Test series. Despite his impressive showing behind the wickets, Rahul is not expected to be employed as a wicket-keeper hitter in the five-match Test series between India and England. Specialist wicket-keeper KS Bharat is being considered by the team management and selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to play that position for the squad in the next assignment.
Dhruv Jurel and KS Bharat were selected for the wicket-keeping position in the BCCI’s announcement of the squad for the first two Test matches against England. Jurel received his first Test call-up.
The BCCI has selected two experts for the task because, according to a Times of India story, they don’t believe Rahul is the best choice for the wicket-keeper position on home surfaces that are conducive to spin.
“From now on, Rahul will only play as a specialist batter. While all you have to do in an international Test match is stay out of the way of the pacers, wicketkeeping in India is more difficult since spinners work in tandem there. The ball can bounce or spin brutally on the spin-friendly home wickets. As a keeper, you must constantly rise and fall. We seek a specialist in that role.
However, one of our most important batting assets is Rahul. We don’t want to overwork him by assigning him additional glovework. Also, we can’t afford the possibility that he gets hurt while standing behind the stumps. For this series, Bharat and Jurel will be our wicketkeepers.
“Jurel is an excellent bat-keeper. We have been following this 22-year-old since he was a member of the India U-19 team,” the source told TOI.
Rahul will only be used as a specialist batter by the BCCI during the England Test series, according to an earlier news article.
Since the Indian squad will be playing on a turner track once more, the management of the team decided that specialized spinners should take care of business at home. The squad won’t take any chances because it has a lot of excellent spinners, especially when the surface being supplied is a turner, a BCCI source told the newspaper.
