Barring any late changes, India’s Champions Trophy squad is final, though there remain a few ifs and buts over the selection of the playing XI. The wicket-keeper’s spot remains one of the most fiercely contested in the team, as there seems to be no clear winner between Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul for the role at the moment. There remain different schools of thought for the two wicket-keepers. While some feel Pant’s presence in the playing XI helps the team strike balance as he is a left-hander, others feel KL Rahul hasn’t done anything wrong to be snubbed.
For cricketer-turned-pundit Aakash Chopra, Rahul deserves to be in the team, even though Pant’s presence fulfills the need for a left-hander in the middle order.
“There are two schools of thought. One is that you have all right-handers, Shubman Gill is there with Rohit Sharma, then Virat Kohli, Rahul, and Hardik Pandya. So don’t you want a left-hander there? People who come with that thinking are saying Rishabh Pant should be played,” former India cricketer Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“What goes in KL Rahul’s favour is what wrong has he done. Just because his name is Rahul, will you keep drumming him? Will you keep getting him to do all the jobs, whether it’s keeping, going down or up the order, and serving the drinks? No, that’s not going to happen,” he added.
Chopra recalled Rahul’s performances in the 2023 ODI World Cup as advocated his case for playing XI selection. The former cricketer-turned-analyst also didn’t hesitate in highlighting Pant’s ODI career, calling it a ‘work in progress’.
“He played well in 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 continuously scored alright. He was criticized a lot for batting a little slow in the final, but we might not have reached where we reached if he had gotten out instead of batting slow,” Chopra elaborated.
“I am going with KL Rahul. I am going with continuity. Why would you drop someone who hasn’t done anything wrong just because someone else does well? Rishabh Pant’s ODI record is a work in progress and KL Rahul hasn’t done anything wrong. So Rahul should be the frontrunner,” he reasoned.
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