Champions trophy: India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday clarified that KL Rahul will be the first choice wicketkeeper of the team in the Champions Trophy and will not be immediately considered to include aggressive batsman Rishabh Pant in the playing XI as an alternative.
Among the players selected for the three -match ODI series against England, only Pant was the players who did not get a chance to play. Rahul was lowered to bat at number six in the first two matches in which he did not look comfortable. In the third match, he landed at his favorite fifth to bat and he made a useful contribution of 40 runs off 29 balls. India won the match by 142 runs.
Gambhir said at a press conference after the match, “Rahul is now our number one wicketkeeper and I can say this much right now. Rishabh Pant will get a chance but Rahul is doing well right now and we cannot play with two wicketkeeper batsman. Hui Gambhir said that the interests of the team are important instead of any person.
He said, “We do not look at the average and figures. We see who can perform well. ”Gambhir also corrected the decision to get opener Yashasvi Jaiswal out of the Champions Trophy team, which spinner Varun Chakraborty has replaced the Champions Trophy team. He said, “The only reason for this is that we wanted an option as a bowler who took wickets and we all know that Varun Chakraborty can be that option.” Jaiswal has a long future right now and we can choose only 15 players.
