Rahul Dravid strikes off candidate for wicketkeeping role ahead of England Tests
India head coach Rahul Dravid stated that KL Rahul won't keep wickets during the Test series against England.
India will have KL Rahul playing as a pure batter during the ICC World Test Championship series against England at home, according to the head coach.
Dravid stated that the management was very clear that Rahul wouldn't keep wickets for the five Tests at home and that the squad was named with two other wicket-keepers in it with this in mind.
Dhruv Jurel has earned a maiden call-up to the Test team for the series while KS Bharat is the other wicket-keeper in the squad.
With three scores of over 50 and an average of 75, KL Rahul enjoyed a prosperous World Cup.
"Rahul won't be playing as a wicket-keeper in the series," Dravid said in a pre-match press conference. "I think we were quite clear about that from the selection itself."
"We had picked two others who could keep for us. Rahul did a fantastic job for us in South Africa and really played a big part in helping us draw that series.
"But considering five Test matches and playing in these conditions, the selection will be between the two other keepers we have".
Rahul has been donning the gloves for India in ODIs since 2020, and his good showing in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 saw him being handed over the role in South Africa for the red-ball games as well.
While Rahul was impressive behind the stumps in the Tests in South Africa, India feel that keeping wickets in home conditions for a long series such as this can be taxing for someone who is not a regular keeper.
With Rahul ruled out as a candidate, the selection will be between Bharat and Jurel for the wicket-keeping slot. While Bharat has been reasonably good behind the stumps, his batting numbers aren't too impressive, with an average of 18.42 after five Tests.
However, he recently shone with an impressive fourth innings hundred (116*) in a run-chase of 490 against England Lions in Ahmedabad. His knock took India A close to a win, with umpires calling off play with the score on 426/5.
Jurel, meanwhile, has been exceptional in first-class cricket, boasting an average of 46.47 in 15 matches. His wicket-keeping had been impressive right from the time he played the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup in 2020.
India will be without Virat Kohli for the first two Tests, with the senior batter withdrawing citing personal reasons.
In Kohli's absence, there'll be room for Shubman Gill, Rahul (as a batter), Shreyas Iyer and one of Bharat or Jurel.
The Test series begins in Hyderabad on 25 January with subsequent Test matches in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala.