Will Rishabh Pant take over WK spot from KL Rahul? Rohit Sharma addresses debate with witty ’till I’m captain’ reply
Skipper Rohit asserted that India have not made a final decision on their first-choice wicketkeeper yet, and he will discuss it with head coach Gambhir.
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has suggested that he doesn’t mind having a headache over picking one between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant for playing XI in the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Rahul has been a mainstay in the Indian ODI set-up for the past few years, while Pant has not played an ODI since November 2022, as the horrific car accident put him out of competitive cricket for over 14 months. Pant also made a sensational return to international cricket with a couple of crucial performances in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where he scored 171 runs.
Meanwhile, Rahul has performed consistently well in the 50-over format in recent times after he was shifted to the middle-overs at number 5 spot. He also scored 452 runs in the 2023 World Cup; however, he recently lost his ODI vice-captaincy to Shubman Gill, which means he is no longer an automatic starter in the XI. Meanwhile, it would be tough for Pant to pip to be the first-choice wicketkeeper in the first ODI against Sri Lanka.
Skipper Rohit asserted that India have not made a final decision on their first-choice wicketkeeper yet, and he will discuss it with head coach Gambhir.
“I’ll need to discuss with the head coach. You’ll see it tomorrow when we play the game,” India skipper Rohit Sharma stated in the pre-match press conference.
Meanwhile, the 37-year-old said he doesn’t mind having a problem choosing between two quality players.
“It’s a tough call. Both are quality players. They’re match-winners in their own way. It’s always nice to have problems picking up the team like that.” the Indian captain said.
Rohit said having a selection headache like this indicates the quality of the Indian team at the moment.
“When you’re discussing too much on who to pick or leave, then that means there’s quality in the team. Which I think is a good thing. I look forward to these problems till I’m captain,” he said.
Ahead of the first ODI, Rohit also asserted that his team is not considering the series only as a preparation ground for the upcoming bigger tournaments and wants to get something out of this.
“We want to come here and play good cricket. This is no practice ground. We want to get something out of the series. It is as simple as that,” he added.
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