Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that India’s batting lineup could be strengthened by playing KL Rahul as the wicketkeeper-batsman instead of KS Bharath in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval in June this year.
“You can see KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper. If he bats at No.5 or 6 at the Oval in the WTC final, then our batting will be stronger. He batted really well in England last year and scored a century at Lord’s. Keep KL Rahul in mind when you pick your XI for the WTC final,” Gavaskar stated.
Bharath, who made his debut in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, struggled with the bat despite impressing with his wicket-keeping skills.
He scored 101 runs from six innings at an average of 20.20. The 29-year-old replaced Rishabh Pant in the lineup, who has been ruled out of cricket for a while due to a car accident earlier this year.
On the other hand, Rahul’s form has been poor in recent times, and he was stripped of the vice-captaincy ahead of the third Test match of the series against Australia in Indore. He has not crossed the 25-run mark in his last 10 Test innings, and an average of less than 35 in 47 Tests is not a true reflection of his potential. However, he was dropped for the third Test, and Shubman Gill was brought in, who scored a century in the final Test in Ahmedabad.
Rahul has been keeping for India in ODI cricket and bats in the middle order. He has never kept in Test cricket for India.
However, Gavaskar’s point about him playing well in England holds true. The last time the team visited there, he and Rohit Sharma were sublime with the bat, opening the innings and facing the new ball in swinging conditions.