'Test match wicketkeeper should be someone...' - Ex-India WK expresses disagreement over Rahul Dravid's decision of having KL Rahul as WK against SA

In a recent line of events, India head coach Rahul Dravid came up with an announcement in which he made it clear that the veteran Indian batter KL Rahul will be there in the role of wicketkeeper for the side in the first Test against South Africa.

Notably, the veteran Bengal wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat was included as a second option as a specialist wicketkeeper after Ishan Kishan withdrew his name from the Indian squad for the two-match Test series against the Proteas. But coach Rahul Dravid left everyone thinking after he confirmed about presence of KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper in the playing XI for the first Test against the hosts.

Meanwhile, the former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel has come up with a disagreement over Dravid’s decision to pick a part-time wicketkeeper in KL Rahul instead of a specialist first-class wicketkeeper like KS Bharat.

“India’s test match wicketkeeper should be someone who is keeping regularly in Ranji trophy or first-class cricket, #imho #INDvSA #IndianCricket,” wrote Parthiv Patel in a post on his official X handle (formerly Twitter).

Here’s a look at the X-post from Parthiv Patel:

Speaking of Team India’s Test performances in South Africa, they haven’t won any Test series so far in the Rainbow Nation in 8 tours they made to the Rainbow Nation. It will be their ninth tour to South Africa, in which they would be eyeing ending their 31-year-long wait to win a Test series on the Proteas soil.

Both teams will play the first Test of the two-match series at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, starting on Tuesday, December 26.

Here’s a look at India’s squad for the Test series against South Africa:

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, and KS Bharat (wk).