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Rahul Dravid (Image Source: Twitter)
Team India are currently busy playing the home ODI series against the Kiwis. Before that, they played another ODI series at home against Sri Lanka. In order to get prepared for the 50-over World Cup in 2023, all these series have been great for the Men in Green. However, wicketkeeping has become a worrying position for the home side in the recent series.
During the ODI series in Bangladesh, KL Rahul played as a wicketkeeper instead of Rishabh Pant. Currently, Rahul is not available for personal reasons while Pant is injured. So, Ishan Kishan has been doing wicketkeeping in this series. Now, regarding this whole matter, head coach Rahul Dravid shared his views.
"We always looking for a wicketkeeper-batsman, there is no question about it.” - Rahul Dravid
While talking in a presser, Rahul Dravid said: "We always looking for a wicketkeeper-batsman, there is no question about it. I think since there has been MS Dhoni, in white-ball cricket, the days of specialist wicketkeepers are gone unfortunately.”
“We are lucky and we are fortunate that all of the guys who are in contention, even in this team you know whether it's Ishan Kishan or KS Bharat are both good batsmen and have done well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Bharat hasn't played but Ishan has obviously done well as a batsman," Dravid added.
Dravid also confirmed that a wicketkeeper needs to bat well at the current time to get a place in the playing XI. "There is Rahul there, Samson is there, but unfortunately, Rishabh is injured. All of these guys are wicketkeeper-batsmen. I think today, you have to be a wicketkeeper-batsman. You should be able to bat and contribute significantly. We have also picked up Jitesh Sharma in the T20 mix because of his ability to bat and score runs at a very quick pace as he has shown in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and in the Indian T20 League that he has played. So yeah it's given now that all teams need a wicketkeeper-batsman," Rahul Dravid concluded.