We look at four wicketkeepers in the race for India’s Test squad for the Bangladesh series.
The race for the wicketkeeper spot is congested in the Indian circuit, and the selectors will find it arduous to make a call in this section. When Rishabh Pant was away due to that accident and KL Rahul was injured frequently, India tried different options, and they did a reasonably decent job in the limited options.
As everyone comes fit and ready, the selectors must make a call and choose the ideal option for the role. The race will primarily be among the four specialist wicketkeeper batters who have been really good whenever they have played.
We look at four wicketkeepers in the race for India’s Test squad for the Bangladesh series.
Rishabh Pant is the first-choice wicketkeeper for the Bangladesh series and might start in the XI. Since returning from the injury, Pant hasn’t played a red-ball game and might feature in the Duleep Trophy to get into the groove.
Before that horrific accident, the southpaw was a runaway match-winner, and Test was his best format. Pant might again find a place immediately in the Test side.
KL Rahul started a new role in the absence of Rishabh Pant, batting as a middle-order batter and keeping wickets. He did a fairly decent job in his new role but has been injury-prone, keeping him in and out of the side in the last year or so.
Rahul has scored 224 runs at an average of 37.33, including one fifty and a century, in the middle order in Tests. Given his superior batting credentials, the team can also play him as a batter and try another wicketkeeper to avoid a major load on his body.
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Ishan Kishan has a new lifeline and will be considered again if he performs well in the Buchi Babu tournament and Duleep Trophy. If he does well in these two series, the selectors will be tempted to look at him as an option for the wicketkeeper role.
Like Rahul, Kishan can be flexible with his batting position and bat anywhere in the middle order. Further, his wicketkeeping has been good enough, as visible in whatever chances he got, making him one of the finest options to have for the home series against Bangladesh.
The rise of Dhruv Jurel has been immense after his remarkable performances in the England series earlier this year. Jurel scored 190 runs at an average of 63.33, with the help of a fifty.
His wicketkeeping skills were also impressive, for Jurel showed good tools to be a long-term wicketkeeper batter for India in the Test format. At this point, Jurel seems ahead of Ishan Kishan in the pecking order due to Kishan’s prolonged absence and will press his case for selection after that England series.
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