KL Rahul’s wicketkeeping brings lot of steadiness for India: Fielding coach Dilip

Over the previous few years, the slot of wicketkeeper within the Indian crew has include a further clause – the candidate must be a stable batter, too. 

Though precisely, not a brand new idea – even Rahul Dravid needed to double up a stumper-batter of their enjoying days to maintain the mixture proper – the competitors has been immense for that coveted spot.

India went into the T20 World Cup in Australia final 12 months with three wicketkeeper-batters in its ranks – Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul – holding the sport’s ever-evolving nature in thoughts. 

And quickly after, in December and January, Rahul saved the stumps for six ODIs – three in opposition to Bangladesh and three in opposition to Sri Lanka – whereas Ishan Kishan was the popular alternative for the sequence in opposition to New Zealand, within the absence of Rahul, who had taken a break attributable to private commitments.

Now, with Pant prone to be out of motion until subsequent 12 months and Karthik working out of favour, the competitors revolves round Rahul and Ishan. Despite struggling to transform the begins and dropping his spot from the Test squad for the final two fixtures in opposition to Australia, Rahul had scores of 73, 14 and eight in Bangladesh, whereas placing up 39, 64 and seven in opposition to Sri Lanka, at No.5. On the opposite hand, Ishan scored 5, 8, 17 in three ODIs in opposition to New Zealand.

And forward of the three-match ODI sequence in opposition to Australia, which begins in Mumbai on Friday, the main target is as soon as once more on the 2 for that one coveted spot, with indications that Rahul might as soon as once more be the popular alternative. 

Though the crew administration didn’t clear the air, the fielding coach T. Dilip heaped praises on Rahul. “We all know that KL Rahul is a wonderful player. He has a proven record. Even in ODIs, in the middle-order, he has proven enough as a batter. As a wicketkeeper, he gets a lot of balance into the team,” Dilip mentioned on Wednesday.

“Since he is not someone who has picked the gloves just now – he has been doing that since a younger age – he adds a lot of things. Not that difficult to work on his wicketkeeping, apart from refining a few aspects,” Dilip mentioned.

Since 2019, Rahul has stepped up within the twin function. “If you look at the last T20 World Cup, we had three wicketkeepers who played. That’s been a trend. If you see all the wicketkeeper-batters that are coming up in the lines, they have been fantastic batters too. That adds to the balance (of the team),” Dilip mentioned.

“As a fielding coach, my responsibility is not only to work on their wicketkeeping skills, but also work on their fielding skills, so that whatever role the team requires according to the combination on that particular day, they are well equipped for that…”

With Rohit Sharma lacking out on the opening ODI in Mumbai attributable to household commitments, Hardik Pandya will lead the crew. “He (Hardik)’s the captain now officially. But he has been in our leadership group for all these matches and he’s proven in T20s what he can bring on table as a captain,” Dilip mentioned. 

“Even if Rohit is the captain, he is part of our leadership group, he adds a lot of value to the team, not only you, we all are looking forward to him. He’s well-equipped to do it…”

After retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1, India can be hoping to make it rely within the three-match ODIs as effectively. And for each Ishan and an under-fire Rahul, this is a chance to step up and profit from the alternatives that come their method.