Bangar feels it’s not feasible for India to play both Rahul and Pant in the same eleven, pointing out that the side can promote one of their spin-bowling all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja if needed in a certain game situation…writes Niharika Raina
Ahead of India’s ODI series against England starting in Nagpur on Thursday, the hosts’ need to decide who between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant is their first-choice wicketkeeper-batter.
India’s ODI wicket-keeping decision against England will heavily influence the team combination for their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai. Given his past successes, Rahul is likely to be chosen over Pant for the upcoming ODI series against England, according to Sanjay Bangar, the former Indian player who also worked as their batting coach.
“My take is the player who has performed in that particular position should get the first look in. If you cast your mind back to the way KL Rahul has performed not only as a batsman but also as a wicketkeeper, some of the catches and the way he kept in the World Cup was simply fabulous.
“So, Rishabh Pant, no doubt, is a very, very exciting talent. But currently, I believe that the team would start with KL in the starting line-up based on the performances that he’s given in the middle overs to the Indian team, as well as in his exploits as a wicketkeeper,” said Bangar, a Star Sports Network Expert, while replying to a question from IANS in a select virtual media interaction.
When Pant was recovering from a life-threatening car-crash, Rahul became India’s primary keeper-batter in ODIs since August 2023, proving to be a great middle-order bat and reliable keeper in the 50-over World Cup, amassing 452 runs and effecting 17 dismissals.
In the 2-0 ODI series defeat in Sri Lanka in August 2024, Rahul was the keeper-batter in the first two matches, making 31 and 0. Pant played the third match and made six runs on his ODI comeback. If India sticks with Rahul, they will not have a left-handed batter in their top six. Having Pant in their line-up will give India the variety they need in their batting order.
Bangar feels it’s not feasible for India to play both Rahul and Pant in the same eleven, pointing out that the side can promote one of their spin-bowling all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja if needed in a certain game situation.
“I don’t think both can play in the single line-up. Generally because of the makeup of the team is right-hand dominant, at least in the top six, and we’ve seen in the past how Jadeja has been used in the batting at four or five according to the needs and situation of the game.
“So, they have that luxury of Jadeja at number seven who can obviously fit in and do the role of a left-hander through the middle overs if the situations arises wherein teams rely on left-arm spinners or leg-spinners. So, yes, there is an option in Jadeja and because of that I think Rishabh Pant may still find it difficult to straightaway break in the playing eleven,” he added.
The ODI series against England is also the last opportunity for captain Rohit Sharma and the talismanic Virat Kohli to find form ahead of the eight-team Champions Trophy, which India last won in 2013. Both veteran batters struggled during the Australia Test tour and failed to achieve significant results in their respective solitary Ranji Trophy appearances for Mumbai and Delhi.
According to Bangar, Rohit and Kohli’s batting approach versus England will be a key indicator of how they will fare in the Champions Trophy. “See, both these players will go down as the best white-ball players of all times. If you make a list of all-time greats in 50-over cricket, they are automatic choices.”
“So, the format and their past performances would certainly give them a lot of confidence in the way they would approach this series. How would Rohit approach at the top of the innings is something which will be very interesting because he’s had a run of low scores.”
“So, once you see maybe one or two innings, then we’ll have an idea as to what is the approach that both these players will be taking into the 50-over format. The assessment will have to be not only in the ODI series, but also in the Champions Trophy. So, we will have a real and clear insight in their approach and also know if they will go back to the methods that have made them so consistent in ODI cricket.”
With uncertainty hovering over Jasprit Bumrah’s availability in the Champions Trophy and Mohammed Shami’s workload still being a critical factor, young left-arm fast-bowler Arshdeep Singh may have a huge role to play in India’s pace bowling department.
In the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy, Arshdeep finished as the leading wicket-taker with 20 wickets. He picked eight wickets in the first ten overs, while taking seven and five scalps respectively in overs 11-40 and 41-50 respectively.
One of his standout spells was him picking a fifer against Mumbai, with his scalps being Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ayush Mhatre, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube.
With Arshdeep having played just eight ODIs for India, Bangar will closely watch on how the youngster uses the new-ball and his effective bouncer in the upcoming series against England.
“He has now started to play regularly in the 50-over format as well. So, for me, the way he bowls with the new ball (is one to watch out for), because we know that he has the skills to bowl well at the start of the innings, as also towards the end of the innings. But in T20s, it’s only two overs at the top and two overs towards the end.
“So, how he operates between the overs three to eight (is key), because the Kookaburra ball tends to not swing that much. So, he is going to get better as he plays. The good thing that was visible during the T20 World Cup was that he started to use the short ball also really well. So, he can certainly develop as he plays on, but as of now, I think he’s settling into being a regular ODI player and he’s doing that quite well,” said Bangar.
India’s ODI series against England will be aired on Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports 2 (HD & SD), Star Sports 3, Hindi (HD & SD), Sports18 1 (HD & SD), Colors Cineplex (HD & SD), Sports18 2, and Sports18 3 from 1:30pm.
‘It’s a Good Headache to Have’
The return of Rishabh Pant to the ODI squad notwithstanding, K.L Rahul will continue to keep wickets in the ODI series against England and probably, the Champions Trophy too, India captain Rohit Sharma has clarified.
Rahul has kept wickets for India in the 2023 World Cup in the absence of Rishabh Pant, who was undergoing rehabilitation following a car crash. Though Rahul had a successful World Cup in 2023, Pant came back into the T20I squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup which India won in Barbados.
Rohit on Wednesday clarified that Rahul has done enough in the ODI format to merit a place in the playing XI for the England series. He said Pant’s presence gives them an option to play anyone and that it was a good headache to have for him.
“Look, obviously KL has been keeping wickets for us in the ODI format for a number of years now and he’s done pretty well. You know, if you look at the last 10 or 15 ODIs, he’s done exactly what the team required him to do.
“Rishabh is well, you know, he’s there. You know, we’ve got an option of playing either one of them. Both are quite capable of winning games on their own. So it’s a good headache to have whether to play KL or Rishabh. But obviously looking at what we have done in the past, having that continuity is also very important for us. So that is where we stand as a team,” said Rohit Sharma.
About the ODI series against England starting with the first match here at the VCA Stadium, Rohit admitted that the team has not played many ODIs last year but would continue to play aggressive cricket.
“There is a certain type of cricket that we want to play, certain brand of cricket we want to play and whether it means that we have to go and do what we did in the World Cup, we will try and do that.
But again, the World Cup was one-and-a-half years back, you know. So clearly we need to regroup as a group now and think about what we need to do here. Obviously, there is a lot of experience in the squad so you can’t keep telling them exactly how you need to prepare for every series. They understand what is expected of the team. So, there’s not much talk about what kind of approach we want to have.
These guys know exactly what is required of each one of us. So it’s just about coming together now because it’s been a while since we played this format. So, it’s just about coming together and trying to do where we left off during the World Cup. If it takes a little bit of time. So we get, you know, it’s not easy to start what we did in the World Cup. As I said, the World Cup was one-and-a-half years ago. So we need to try and think about what we need to do here now and start fresh,” said Rohit.
The India captain explained the rationale behind including leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the ODI squad despite having Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel in the side.
“He has certainly shown something different. I understand that it is in T20 format, but he’s clearly got something different about him. So we just wanted to have an option and see what we can do with it. Clearly, during the series it presents us an opportunity to play him at some stage and see what he is capable of.
Rohit was asked whether the team management is considering Chakravarthy for the Champions Trophy, to which the India captain said at this moment he is not thinking about Chakravarthy in the Champions Trophy squad but he is definitely in contention.
“Right now we are not thinking about whether we’re going to take him or not, but definitely he will be in contention. If things pan out really well for us and he does what is required, then definitely there is something that we need to think about,” he added.
India’s captain refused to talk about who all are in the picture as replacements for a fast-bowling allrounder in case Hardik Pandya gets injured like he did in the 2023 World Cup. “Why do you have negative thoughts,” Rohit said. “We should have positive thoughts.
“Why do you want him to get injured? Let’s all pray that every player is 100 per cent fit and remains fit,” he added.
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