File image of India head coach Rahul Dravid with batter Ok.L. Rahul
| Photo Credit: PTI
India head coach Rahul Dravid on Tuesday stated Ok.L. Rahul will not be protecting wickets within the five-match Test collection against England, and it will be a toss up between Ok.S. Bharat and Dhruv Jurel for the wicketkeeper-batter position.
Rahul had stored wickets within the two-match collection against South Africa just lately, and produced a relatively nimble effort behind the stumps. The collection against England begins right here on Thursday.
“Rahul will not be playing as a wicket-keeper in this series and we are clear about that in the selection itself. We have picked two other wicket-keepers and obviously Rahul did a fantastic job for us in South Africa and really played a big part in helping us draw the series,” Dravid stated in a press convention right here.
“But considering five Test matches (against England) and playing in these conditions the selection will be between the two other keepers we have,” he defined.
The nature of pitches in India makes it obligatory for a wicketkeeper to face as much as the wickets against spinners, on this case R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, a task that ought to be assigned to a specialist stumper.
The 31-year-old Bengaluru participant, has been a chosen wicketkeeper solely thrice in his 92 First-Class matches and none of these appearances got here in India.
In that context, it would not have been smart for the workforce administration to choose Rahul as wicketkeeper against England, contemplating the truth that the guests’ ‘Bazball’ model of cricket would possibly simply supply a number of probabilities to the gloveman.
In distinction, Bharat, who stepped in when Rishabh Pant was injured in a automotive accident, has finished moderately nicely within the position, and sometimes attracted plaudits.
Even although he has not actually made a mark with the bat, his efforts behind the wickets can’t be brushed apart — from 91 First-Class matches, of which 82 have been in India, Bharat has amassed 287 catches and 33 stumpings.
Since Jurel remains to be a tad inexperienced behind the ears, Bharat is about to get the nod as wicketkeeper-batter for the collection against England.
His unbeaten 116 that helped India A draw the primary unofficial ‘Test’ against England Lions at Ahmedabad just lately too might need boosted his stature within the eyes of the think-tank.