Former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta believes that things would be “very tricky” for KL Rahul if he loses his place in India’s ODI XI having already lost his place in T20I and Test team.
In the pre-match press conference, India captain Virat Kohli has already made it clear that Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will continue as openers for Team India in the first ODI of the three-match ODI series against England starting on Tuesday (March 23) in Pune.
Given the statement, only one between Rahul and Rishabh Pant will feature in the playing XI for the ODI series opener against England and Dasgupta feels he would be Delhi’s young keeper considering the current form with the bat – first in Australia and recently against England at home.
After an extremely successful IPL 2020, where he was the highest run-scorer with 670 runs at an average of 55.83 with 1 hundred and 5 fifties, Rahul has been going through a tough time with the bat ever since returning from a wrist injury after the Australia tour, scoring 1, 0, 0 and 14 in the first four T20Is before getting dropped from India’s XI for the final T20I series against England.
With back-to-back memorable Test series versus Australia and England, Pant reclaimed his spot in the T20Is and was also named for the three ODIs, versus world champions England.
Well, the commentator has pointed out that Rahul had done well in the past at No.5 but given the current form Pant will be given the nod ahead of the out-of-form right-hander in the ODI series to add more value to their bowling order against daunting England.
Dasgupta told Sports Today, “Virat has already mentioned that Shikhar and Rohit will open. If you go by numbers, KL is very good batting at No. 5 and also keeping wickets. If you go by numbers, KL Rahul has done well in the past but if you go by current form, it will be Rishabh Pant.”
The former wicketkeeper-batsman further added that it will be tough on the struggling Rahul as a batsman if he loses his spot in the Indian ODI team as well following Test and T20I ouster.
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He further explained, “The big question is what happens now (to KL Rahul)? I don’t know, it’s going to be a tough one. On the one side, you'd want Rishabh to bat at No. 5. He is evolving as a cricketer, you want that to continue and that will help him also.”
Dasgupta signed off by saying, “On the other hand, you have a class act like KL Rahul, who is not in form. He has lost his place in the T20I side, in the Test before this. If he loses his places in the ODI side, I don’t know where it puts him, in terms of the India team in all 3 formats. That’s a very tricky one.”
