KL Rahul is keen on keeping wickets in Tests too: Rohit

centurion (Uttam Hindu News): The first Test between India and South Africa is to be played from 26th December. KL Rahul is almost certain to become India’s wicketkeeper in Test cricket for the first time. Captain Rohit Sharma said before the opening match of the series that the right-handed batsman himself is eager to play this role.

With Ishan Kishan pulling out of the series due to personal reasons and Rishabh Pant being out of the team, an opportunity has opened up for Rahul to regain his place as a wicketkeeper in the Test team.

Regarding KL Rahul’s wicketkeeping in the Test series in the Indian team, captain Rohit Sharma said, “Every cricketer has to go through some kind of change or play a different role in his career. There are only a few cricketers who remain in the same position and play the same role in that position throughout their career. He is working really hard and he himself is very keen to play that role.”

“It gives us the option of playing a solid batsman at five/six/seven in the middle order,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference. He has experience of playing here. Last time he had scored a century. However, he had opened the innings there and this time he will play in the middle order. “Even I think from the position he bats in the middle order in ODIs, we have seen him do most of the things right.”

Rohit has not played a match since India’s defeat to Australia in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad more than a month ago. The right-handed opening batsman admitted that it was tough to get over the heartbreak of the final, but he is now ready to face future challenges both as a captain and a batsman.