Nagpur, Feb 5 (IANS) 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.
–IANS
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