Sunil Gavaskar disagrees with the Indian team management's decision to go in with KL Rahul as the wicketkeeper batsman for the last two games of the just-concluded ODI series versus Australia even when Rishabh Pant was available for selection in the decider in Bangalore. 

The legendary cricketer-turned-commentator reckons this wouldn't help the youngster's confidence and he should be the team's first-choice wicketkeeper during the upcoming New Zealand tour and beyond. 

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"I will go with Rishabh Pant in the limited-overs cricket. If you need a finisher at No. 6 then Rishabh Pant can do that for the team," Gavaskar told India Today. 

"Also he is a left-handed batsman, so considering the Indian batting line-up where we have only one left-handed batsman in form of Shikhar Dhawan, so if we have another southpaw in top-order then it will be beneficial for the team. So I will go with Rishabh Pant."

But skipper Virat Kohli has already confirmed that this strategy and team composition will be retained for at least some time as multidimensional Rahul gives India exciting options with the regards to the balance. 

"Rahul really brings in a good balance if he can keep and bat that well in that position (No. 5)," Kohli told reporters after India's 2-1 series victory over the Aussies. "He has come into the slot and he has done well so we will have to persist with that a little bit and see where that takes us and not necessarily be confused about the other options we have."

"So I think lack of clarity in terms of positions has really hurt us in the past. Now that we understand that this feels right, we will go ahead with that for a while and figure out if this is the right thing to do or not."

"You can chop and change immediately and create confusion among the group. I don't see any reason why we should change this balance. It has done well for the team and we will continue with the same for a while."

(Inputs from India Today)