Greener pastures: Despite shedding his place in the Test facet, Rahul stays a significant cog in India’s ODI set-up.
| Photo Credit: Okay.R. DEEPAK
he workforce gear will change. So will the format. His function, too, shall be completely different. Still, Okay.L. Rahul will proceed to be underneath the scanner for India’s three-match ODI sequence versus Australia, beginning at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.
From main the workforce in Rohit Sharma’s absence in India’s final ODI in 2022 to being relieved of vice-captaincy duties throughout all codecs and even shedding his place in the Test facet, Rahul has had a topsy-turvy first quarter of 2023
Vital cog
Despite being dropped as Test opener halfway by way of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy sequence, Rahul stays a significant cog for India in terms of the ODI set-up; particularly in a World Cup 12 months, with Rishabh Pant all however dominated out of the marquee occasion on home soil.
In reality, ever since he began maintaining wickets and batting in the middle-order, Rahul has flourished as an ODI cricketer. His common of 55.25 with the willow in 15 ODIs he has saved to this point is best than his profession common of 44.52 in 51 ODIs. Considering that he has dealt with wicketkeeping duties in the final two ODI sequence he featured — in Bangladesh and agaist Sri Lanka at home — it seems that the workforce administration has recognized him as the numero uno selection for the pivotal function until the World Cup.
Dilip, the fielding coach, reaffirmed the administration’s perception in Rahul’s talents. “We all know that K.L. Rahul is a wonderful player. He has a proven record in the ODIs in the middle order. He brings a lot of balance to the team,” Dilip mentioned.
“He is not someone who has picked up the gloves just now, he has been doing it from a younger age. So it’s not much difficult to work on his wicketkeeping skills apart from refining a few aspects.”
While he retains wickets in ODIs, Rahul performs as a specialist batter in the different two codecs. Similarly, Ishan Kishan has been juggling between fielding in the outfield and wicketkeeping throughout completely different codecs.
Dilip, in his first media interplay, defined the changes he has to make to plan the gamers’ fielding skill-set routine.
“In the last World Cup, we had three wicketkeepers who played. It’s been a trend. If you look at the wicketkeepers, they are coming up in line, they are fantastic batters too. It adds up to the balance,” he mentioned.
“My responsibility becomes not only to work on their wicketkeeping skills but work on their fielding skills too so that they are well equipped for whatever role is required by the team.”
