As India are set to face Australia in the Test Championship finals at the Oval Cricket Ground in London on June 7, Indian team management announced a 15-member squad for the game. In a surprising move, India recalled veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane while out for KL Rahul also retained his place in the team. Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan misses out on the squad and KS Bharat is the only designated wicketkeeper in the team.
Meanwhile, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh picked his playing XI for the most important game and he choose KL Rahul as wicketkeeper-batter while going with Shubman Gill to open the innings. Notably, Rahul had a terrible series against Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He failed to capitalise on the opportunities and was dropped from the playing xi.
However, doubting KS Bharat’s batting abilities Bhajji on his YouTube channel said that India will rely on Rahane and Rahul’s experience as the ball is going to swing in English conditions. He further added that India should play Rahul as a wicketkeeper-batter to strengthen their batting line-up. He said, “KL Rahul will be my wicketkeeper in the Test Championship Final.”
Tom Moody backs KL Rahul amid questions over his strike rate
KL Rahul is currently leading Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing Indian Premier League. He has been phenomenal throughout the season with the bat scoring 262 runs in seven matches. He has hammered two half-centuries with a strike rate of 113.91. While several experts have criticised Rahul’s strike rate, former SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) coach Tom Moody has backed the LSG skipper, saying that his teammates have let him down.
“I don’t think any blame is on KL Rahul. I think the team has let him down. He and Kyle Mayers, at the top of the order, set the ideal platform to chase the target down. Whether Krunal Pandya should have come at No. 3 or not, still his contribution was adequate after that start. The rest of the team, and the way it was structured, as in the strategy around the batting order, was the difference,” says Tom Moody.
Here is how fans react to Harbhajan Singh’s wicketkeeper pick:
Bhajji organising a separate match in Jalandhar, KL Rahul will be the keeper and he himself will lead the spin attack ??
— Bhupender Thakur (@MisterBeeTee) April 25, 2023
Harbhajan Singh afraid if KL Rahul not get a chance to get playing 11 WTC 2023final K S Bharat he is a professional wicket-keeper batsman
— Arvind Raghava (@ArvindRaghava5) April 25, 2023
KL Rahul's performance to earn that place in Bhajji's XI for the WTC Final is equivalent to Harbhajan Singh's performance in the Rajya Sabha after being elected as an AAP MP.
kaam ka na kaaj ka, dushman anaaj ka.
— ???? (@AtharCricket) April 25, 2023
Its a risk but not a bad call i would say. A classic min maxing case. Expect a standard keeping from Rahul but we get a position open for spin twins or add in a shardul
— Chris Smith (@HereForChaosLol) April 25, 2023
Cant believe such statements coming from a seasoned cricketer. What about Swinging duke in english conditions where even regular wicketkeepers find it difficult to do glovework? A single drop catch can cost us a match. Skillful WK is a MUST!
— Azam Sheikh (@azamsheikh24) April 25, 2023
This is not t20 match professional wicketkeeping is important in test cricket u can't afford to drop catches that's why i prefer saha
— Fardeen Aalam (@FardeenAalam2) April 25, 2023
But he is not wicket keeping for Lsg ??? Sanju Samson doing good job atm to seal his place at 50 overs world cup as wicket keeper
— Tharun (@nsavtharun) April 25, 2023
Still it's good to back Bharat….Rahul is a choker when it comes to big games…with Bharat there isn't any expectations
— Dr. Bhaargavjyoti Thakur (@DrBhaargavjyoti) April 25, 2023
No we don't want to play with just 10 players in so important final ???
— Ashish. (@____ashish_m) April 25, 2023
He should be WK…….we have no other perfact choice nd currently he is precticing for test match by the way??
— Chandler Bing ? (@Badal77274728) April 25, 2023
