Barring any late changes, India’s Champions Trophy squad is final, though there remain a number of ifs and buts over the collection of the playing XI. The wicket-keeper’s spot stays some of the fiercely contested within the team, as there appears to be no clear winner between Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul for the role in the meanwhile. There remain different schools of thought for the 2 wicket-keepers. While some feel Pant’s presence within the playing XI helps the team strike balance as he’s a left-hander, others feel KL Rahul hasn’t done anything improper to be snubbed.
For cricketer-turned-pundit Aakash Chopra, Rahul deserves to be within the team, although Pant’s presence fulfills the necessity for a left-hander in the center order.
“There are two schools of thought. One is that you may have all right-handers, Shubman Gill is there with Rohit Sharma, then Virat Kohli, Rahul, and Hardik Pandya. So don’t you would like a left-hander there? Individuals who include that pondering are saying Rishabh Pant ought to be played,” former India cricketer Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“What goes in KL Rahul’s favour is what improper has he done. Simply because his name is Rahul, will you retain drumming him? Will you retain getting him to do all the roles, whether it’s keeping, happening or up the order, and serving the drinks? No, that is not going to occur,” he added.
Chopra recalled Rahul’s performances within the 2023 ODI World Cup as advocated his case for enjoying XI selection. The previous cricketer-turned-analyst also didn’t hesitate in highlighting Pant’s ODI profession, calling it a ‘work in progress’.
“He played well within the World Cup. I still remember the Australia match at Chepauk. India were reduced 25/3, something like that, and he performed like a Player of the Match. Then he constantly scored alright. He was criticized lots for batting slightly slow in the ultimate, but we may not have reached where we reached if he had gotten out as a substitute of batting slow,” Chopra elaborated.
“I’m going with KL Rahul. I’m going with continuity. Why would you drop someone who hasn’t done anything improper simply because another person does well? Rishabh Pant’s ODI record is a piece in progress and KL Rahul hasn’t done anything improper. So Rahul ought to be the frontrunner,” he reasoned.
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