'KL Rahul should play all three formats and keep for Indian T20 side' - Deep Dasgupta

There is almost no Indian cricket expert who wouldn’t have a kind word for KL Rahul. Such is his talent. The Kings XI Punjab captain has been a key member of the Indian white-ball over the past year and has given some great performances with the bat. Given an opportunity to play as a wicket-keeper and batsman, Rahul has adapted himself quite properly to the role.

Praising KL Rahul, Deep Dasgupta said that he is a too good player for not getting picked in all the three formats of the game. He said that he has been saying it for a long time that Rahul can be a wicketkeeper-batsman in T20s. Regarding 50-overs format, the former India cricketer said it still needs to decide if he should keep in that format or not.

Deep Dasgupta heaps praise on KL Rahul

“Rahul is too good a player to not be playing all 3 formats. In T20s, yes he can be a very good wicketkeeper-batsman — I have been saying this for a long time. In ODIs, it’s a 50-50 call. He has been doing well at No. 5 and it can be decided if he should keep wickets or not,” Dasgupta said as quoted by India Today.

Dasgupta further stated that the Karnataka batsman is a must-have in T20s. He also pointed out that he could be crucial for the side considering the two T20 World Cups in 2020 and 2021.

“KL Rahul should play all 3 formats. He is a quality batsman and a good wicketkeeper. My assessment is he is a must-have in the T20 side. Look, we are talking about 2 T20 World Cups and he is an important part of the Indian T20 side,” Deep Dasgupta said.

Rahul has been out of the Indian test team since the West Indies tour last year. The former wicket-keeper suggested that he should make a comeback in the format but not as a keeper.

“Rahul should be playing Test cricket as well. But he is not going to keep wickets in Tests. It has to be seen how much he can play and a call on his workload should also be considered,” added Dasgupta.

Rahul has been in a prolific run with the bat in the limited-overs format since the last year’s World Cup. The batsman seems to have evolved a lot and has scored a lot of runs as well. In fact, he has been chosen by Virat Kohli to keep for India in the white-ball format. He has been doing a good job batting in the middle order in the ODIs.