Former India cricketer GautamGambhir has shared his opinion on the selection of Indian players for World Test Championships Finale against Australia. He believes that team India should play a “special wicketkeeper” KS Bharat instead of KL Rahul who is a “part-time keeper.”
In conversation with Sports Tak, he said, “You should always go with a special wicketkeeper. England is a tough place to keep, where you can’t go with a part-time wicketkeeper.”
He also backed KL Rahul and said that he has a decent record of playing in England, thus, he should play purely as a batsman.
“In four matches, we came to the conclusion that KS Bharat’s batting and keeping is not up to the mark. In those four matches, our top-order batsmen also failed to score, we must keep that in mind. Those former players who are questioning Bharat must check their own records. The longer runs they have got despite not being able to perform. In Test cricket, you should always play a proper keeper. A wicketkeeper can drop catches but he can also take some stunning catches as well,” added Gambhir.
“Ex-cricketers should know the importance of keeping in Test cricket. One drop catch can change the Test match. If a keeper drops a catch you know that he is a regular keeper, but if a part-time keeper drops a catch, you will keep scratching your head the entire five days that, oh we should have played a proper wicketkeeper,” he opined.
Talking about the pressure on KL Rahul, he said, “I don’t think there will be any pressure on KL Rahul because IPL cricket is different than IPL cricket. If you score 1000 runs in the IPL and but if you fail to score in international cricket, you will face criticism. Only 15 players get to represent the country. In IPL more than 150 players get selected.”
Gambhir defended KL Rahul’s record in IPL and said, “KL Rahul has four centuries in the IPL. We are talking about a player who has proven himself in the IPL. He scored two centuries last year as well. Former cricketers criticise because they want to stay relevant. I don’t think KL Rahul will be under any pressure. One player doesn’t win you the tournament; there are 25 players in that dressing room, they are equally responsible for the success of the team.”
