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Sourav Ganguly settles KL Rahul vs Ishan Kishan debate with blunt verdict on India's wicketkeeper for ODI World Cup
Former BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly gave his verdict in a blunt message to head coach Rahul Dravid.
The Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection committee will have questions a many when they sit on Monday morning to pick their Asia Cup team in addition to also selecting a provisional squad for the ODI World Cup. Although, the announcement pertaining to the ICC event will merely be a temporary selection, with the deadline for the provisional squad being September 5, it will hint or likely solve few of India's selection headaches. One of those have been for the wicketkeeping slot with Ishan Kishan and recovering KL Rahul being the options, amid Sanju Samson as a back-up. And ahead of the selection meeting in New Delhi, former BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly gave his verdict in a blunt message to head coach Rahul Dravid.
India's option for the spot, in absence of Rishabh Pant, who has been on the sidelines since his tragic car accident in December last year, are Kishan, Rahul and Samson. The southpaw has been a regular member of the ODI set-up since February 2022, appearing in 15 matches where he scored 634 runs at 48.76 with a record double century and five fifties. What adds to his abilities is the flexibility to offers to the Indian batting line-up besides being a left-handed batter. In six of those 14 innings, he opened for India and batted at No. 3 and 4 for a combined eight times. However, only six times did he feature as a wicketkeeper in those 15 matches.
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Rahul was India's mainstay option in Pant's absence, having featured as a wicketkeeper-batter in nine innings between December 2022 and March 2023, where he scored 321 runs at 45.83 with three fifties. But a hamstring injury during IPL saw him miss the West Indies tour and his fitness for Asia Cup remains a concern.
Speaking at a recent event, Ganguly revealed that he would pick Kishan as his wicketkeeping option purely on the basis of his explosive batting.
"Pant is the best wicketkeeper in the country, but you can see Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (depending on his fitness); these two will be right up in Rohit's and Rahul's minds. I like Ishan Kishan because he just opens up the game for any team. I am sure Dravid will keep him in his plans," Ganguly said.
Earlier, former India head coach Ravi Shastri, in conversation with Star Sports, also backed Kishan for the role in Asia Cup squad, explaining that Rahul shouldn't be allowed to walk into the playing XI for such a big tournament after a big injury lay off.
"See when you're talking of a player (KL Rahul) who's not played and is recovering from injury. To think of him in the XI of the Asia Cup, you're asking a little too much of the player himself. And then you're talking about keeping. When a guy comes from an injury, the range of movement and things of that sort, so that's a no-no," Shastri had said.
It has been reported that Rahul is likely to undergo a practice match today at the NCA along with Shreyas Iyer which will eventually decide the fate of the duo for Asia Cup and World Cup.
