5 wicketkeepers who can replace KL Rahul in Indian cricket team

India's long-time wicket-keeper KL Rahul has been struggling with his form for quite some time now. Even in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 between India and Australia, the 30-year-old has failed to leave a mark following a string of low scores. Such was the disappointment with KL Rahul's form that he was stripped off the vice-captaincy and was even dropped from the team ahead of the third Test to make way for Shubman Gill. With major ICC tournaments scheduled to take place later this year, these could be clear signs of BCCI considering to move on from Rahul. In Rahul's absence, it would be a difficult conundrum to zero in on one or two players to fill in his shoes. While India certainly has a lot of potential with regards to players behind the stumps, BCCI would look to leave no stone unturned before picking anyone up and would want to go ahead with someone who can be a long-term asset for the team. With Rishabh Pant's unfortunate accident, this quandary becomes all the more tricky. In this listicle, we try to look at 5 such players who could possibly replace Rahul in the Indian team: 1. Ishan Kishan Ishan Kishan is undoubtedly the first name that has to be on the list. The 24-year-old has already made a mark in the shorter formats of the game for Team India. He made his international T20 debut for India back in 2021 against England. In his first match itself, he struck a sublime half-century to announce his arrival on the bigger stage. Kishan made his ODI debut in the same year and hasn't faltered since while competing for the cluttered spot of wicket-keeper batter in team India. In ODIs, the youngster has made his presence felt as he smashed the fastest ever double-century in the history of ODI cricket, playing against Bangladesh in December 2022. He broke the record earlier held by Chris Gayle. Apart from his batting skills, Kishan is also a very handy wicketkeeper. His acrobatic skills have made him a safe choice behind the stumps. After placing his contention in white-ball cricket, he was named in the Test squad for the ongoing Test series against Australia, though he is yet to take the field in whites. Kishan can turn into an all-format wicket-keeper for India shall he acclimate himself to the longest format. 2. KS Bharat Kona Srikar Bharat, or KS Bharat as he is widely known, has been with the Indian test team for some time now. Following Wriddhiman Saha's exclusion, KS Bharat was inluded in the scheme of things for India and after Rishabh Pant's unfortunate accident, Bharat has climbed up the ranks to finally make his debut for India in the longest format. He is playing in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar trophy but is yet to come up with a memorable innings. In the three tests played till now, Bharat has only managed to score 58 runs. Though he is yet to play for India in the coloured jersey, the Andhra-born wicket-keeper did play a few good innings in the IPL. Playing under the mentorship of then India captain Virat Kohli, Bharat did leave a mark for RCB in the cash-rich league. In the 2021 IPL match against Delhi Capitals, Bharat played a sensational innings of 78 not out in 52 deliveries to take RCB home with a last-ball six. Bharat also has amazing first-class numbers to strengthen his case. Speaking about his first-class career till now, he has appeared in 88 matches. In the 138 innings played by him, he has amassed 4744 runs at an impressive strike rate of 59.93. He averages 37.65 and has remained not out twelve times. His highest score in first-class cricket is an impressive 308. 3. Sanju Samson Sanju Samson is a player who, despite having good numbers in the domestic circuit, has not been able to feature regularly in the Indian side. He was one of the best performers for India in the shorter formats in 2022 but hasn't been tried consistently to be taken in for the upcomimg mega-tournaments. Speaking about the 28-year-old's 2022 outings, Samson played 10 ODIs where he scored 284 runs in 9 innings with an excellent batting average of 71. He also struck two half-centuries, top scoring with an unbeaten 86. In T20Is, he made six appearances, collecting 179 runs at an average of 44.75, with a strike rate of over 158. He is also a very skillful wicket-keeper and has mostly been a safe conductor behind the stumps. Thus, the 28-year old can be looked at from a long-term perspective and may be groomed into an all-fomat wicket-keeper or atleast as a white-ball specialist to prepare him for the upcoming World Cup. 4. Sheldon Jackson Sheldon Jackson is another player who has a very impressive performance record in first-class cricket. Although a front-runner to be included in India's national team, Sheldon Jackson has had narrow misses as he still awaits a debut. Talking about his first class statistics, the 36-year-old has scored 5634 runs in the 76 first-class matches that he has played. He has scored 19 centuries and 27 half-centuries for Saurashtra with 186 as his highest score. Jackson has scored 2096 runs in 58 List-A innings so far at a strike rate of 82.19. Alongwith being a reliable batter and an excellent fielder, Jackson also keeps wickets for Saurashtra in limited-overs competitions. He has been a regular in the role of wicketkeeper for Saurashtra and might get considered to replace KL Rahul in the Indian team. 5. Narayan Jagadeesan Narayan Jagadeesan is another cricketer who is being seen as an upcoming talent. Already the talk of the town in domestic cricket, the Tamil Nadu-cricketer might not be very far from placing a contention for the wicket-keeping batter's spot in team India. Jagadeesan's first-class statistics speak volumes about his talent. The 27-year-old has quite good numbers in domestic circuit. He has appeared in 33 matches and played 50 innings so far, scoring 1795 runs at a strike rate of 62.80. He has played five unbeaten knocks and boasts of an average of 39.88. His highest score till now is 183. His list-A statistics are even better. In 44 innings, he has scored 2090 runs at an impressive strike rate of 94.95. He averages 49.76 in the format, with the highest score of 277. He is also a very reliable wicketkeeper and if groomed well enough, can make for a likely replacement for KL Rahul. For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store

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5 wicketkeepers who can replace KL Rahul in Indian cricket team

KL Rahul was relieved of his vice-captaincy duties and even dropped from the team ahead of the third Test against Australia.

4. Sheldon Jackson

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