Ravi Shastri up for Rahul keeping wickets: The Indian coach opened up on the prospect of the opening batsman keeping wickets.
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Having scored 164 runs at an average of 54.66 and a strike rate of 153.27 including two half-centuries, India opening batsman Lokesh Rahul was their second-highest run-scorer in the recently concluded three-match T20I series against West Indies.
A permanent member of India’s limited-overs side, Rahul has mostly warmed the bench primarily due to the presence of a stellar opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.
With Dhawan injured, Rahul took the opportunity with both hands in the T20I series. More than his runs, it was his strike rate which came as a reprieve for the hosts.
1000% grind ⚔️ See you in Trivandrum 📍 pic.twitter.com/aqTvInLLxg
— K L Rahul (@klrahul11) December 6, 2019
Ravi Shastri up for Rahul keeping wickets
With wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant not being in the best of forms, India have the option of making Rahul keep wickets and include an extra specialist batsman/all-rounder in the Playing XI. It is worth mentioning that Rahul had kept wickets for Karnataka in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Speaking in an interview with India Today, India coach Ravi Shastri opened up on the aforementioned option of playing Rahul as a wicket-keeper batsman. Shastri laid emphasis on performances in the Indian Premier League holding significant importance.
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“It is an absolute option. You got to see where your strength is. If tomorrow there are a couple of guys in the middle order who are firing with unbelievable innings in the IPL. IPL will be a good judging ground. If you feel a guy who can multitask can be used at the top because there’s some firepower at the back who are doing extremely well, then why not?
“That’s what you need. You need people who are doing two things at a time. Gone are the days when you only played as a batsman, then you got to be a Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. Even they are excellent in the field. You got to have two departments if not more to be able to play white-ball cricket,” Shastri was quoted as saying.
