KL Rahul donned the gloves against Australia as Rishabh Pant was rested due to concussion he suffered after taking a hit on his helmet. Rahul was so good behind the stumps that even the Indian skipper Virat Kohli confirmed that Rahul will continue keeping for India in the New Zealand series as well.

While a lot of pundits were in favor of this move, some kept insisting that India should go with Pant as the wicket-keeper batsman, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan was one of them to back Pant.

Before the start of the first T20I at Auckland, former wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta asked Pathan about Pant as he said, “Irfan, KL Rahul has changed a bit. He is not just a batsman. He is a wicketkeeper now. What does that mean for Rishabh Pant?”

NZ v IND 2020: Gavaskar wants Rishabh Pant back as India's first-choice keeper batsman

The 35-year-old who feels the Delhi based explosive southpaw can be a great finisher for India replied by saying, “Team management is going to keep backing Rishabh Pant. The situation with him is, that they are going to find a good finisher in him. That’s why they are investing in him.”

“He hasn’t shown that yet. But we have seen in the IPL he has finished the game and won the games for Delhi Capitals. That’s what they see him doing in the future, and hence they keep persisting with him,” Irfan added.

The Baroda based left-arm pacer then went on to suggest the perfect lower order for the Men in Blue as he said, “I would like to see that as well. If Pant is batting at no. 6 and Hardik Pandya comes at no. 7, it’s a solid lower order, which you need in T20Is, to finish off the game.”

India has gone with KL Rahul as the keeper in the first T20I in Auckland and it will be interesting to see how the Bengaluru lad performs in New Zealand.

(With Hindustan Times inputs)