KL Rahul should keep for India ahead of Rishabh Pant in T20Is: Deep Dasgupta

KL Rahul, over the last few months, has emerged as India’s preferred wicket-keeper in the limited-overs format. The situation was not ideal when he took over the job as Rishabh Pant suffered from concussion during the home ODI series against Australia in January. But the way Rahul has done the job behind the stumps, has impressed the team management and the skipper Virat Kohli.

He donned the wicket-keeping gloves in New Zealand even as Pant didn’t play any ODI or T20I on the tour. Rahul also performed well with the bat to strengthen his place in the team even more. Looking at the current situation, the former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta has opined that the Karnataka cricketer should be preferred in the shortest format, ahead of Pant, for the job behind the stumps.

Dasgupta was live on Instagram with Sportskeeda where he felt that India should invest in Rishabh Pant in long term and make him play domestic cricket more to improve. “In T20s definitely I feel KL Rahul should keep for India, he understands how to keep and bat well. He’s a proper wicketkeeper, he’s technically sound. We need to invest in Rishabh Pant in the long term.

“You have to be creative in how to mentor him or guide him, you need to show him tough love and play domestic cricket. It will be a shame if he does not achieve as per his potential,” he said.

Deep Dasgupta backed KL Rahul to bat at 5 in ODIs

Deep Dasgupta also seemed impressed with KL Rahul’s batting at number five in the 50-over format. He reckons that the stylish batsman can bat according to the situation when he goes out in the middle which will help the team either in churning out some quick runs or in coming out of trouble. “Someone like Rahul batting at No.5 in ODI cricket, I understand why the team wants him to bat in that position.

“He’s such a class batsman, with the right kind of temperament, he has all the gears to play from 1-6. In T20s, he looks effortless. That’s the kind of talent and game he has. Looking at that Indian team’s batting order, it looks good to me,” the former India wicket-keeper, who played 8 Tests and 5 ODIs, added.