Team India successfully managed to get qualified for the final of the World Test Championship for two consecutive years. They defeated Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by a 2-1 margin while Sri Lanka also suffered a loss in the first match of the ongoing two-match Test series against the Kiwis. However, KL Rahul failed to get a chance in the last two matches. But, Sunil Gavaskar came up with a suggestion for Rohit Sharma regarding Rahul.
The former team India cricketer, Gavaskar claimed that Rohit Sharma can use KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper instead of KS Bharat. His inclusion can strengthen the overall batting unit and that will help the team. He further added that Rahul batted well last time when team India went on England tour.
“You can see KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper.” - Sunil Gavaskar
While speaking to SportsTak, Sunil Gavaskar said: “You can see KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper. If he bats at No.5 or 6 in at the Oval (in the WTC final) then our batting will be stronger. Because he batted really well in England last year. He scored a century at the Lord's. Keep KL Rahul in mind when you pick your XI for the WTC final."
"Dinesh Karthik summed up the problems with his wicketkeeping quite beautifully (during commentary). The real test of a wicketkeeper is on pitches like these where the ball is turning. If you look at Travis Head's dismissal when the ball turned and hit his stumps, KS Bharat's gloves were nowhere near the ball,” he added.
“That means, if the ball hadn't hit the stumps, it would have resulted in 4 byes. This is definitely a cause for concern. Whether they will select him in the XI or not is up to the selection committee but in England, you won't get pitches where the keeper has to stand up to the stumps. In that case, you can pick KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper and even Ishan Kishan can be considered. Their batting is better than Bharat's," Sunil Gavaskar concluded. Hearing that fans were not happy as Rahul failed miserably in the first two matches. Then, he failed to get a place in the final two matches. He even got stripped of the vice-captaincy post.
Here is how fans have slammed Gavaskar for his statement about including Rahul in the WTC final:
Bharat, Kl Aur Ishan Se Accha Ye Bhai Keeping Acchi Kar Lenge. pic.twitter.com/QMX7U5SDLg
— Aufridi Chumtya (@ShuhidAufridi) March 15, 2023
Jo baat maine phle se bola hai aaj wahi Sunil ji bol rahe hai
— Cricket Lover👑 (@GiteshKarsh11) March 15, 2023
stop taking Gavaskar seriously...he regularly interferes with his unconventional decisions which don't bring any result.
— wingman (@raulzgargon3) March 15, 2023
Kl rahul ka career bachane k kiye puri kayant lagi hui hai 😂
— Singularity (@internetmaina) March 15, 2023
Gavaskar pagla Gaya hai.
— KTB (@ktb8967) March 15, 2023
Ask Suniel Anna to come from his real ID 🤭
— Angry Foofa 🏹 (@AngryFoofa) March 15, 2023
KL rahul in finals 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
— HAR$H WORD$#😼 (@itsFactz1) March 15, 2023
Na baba na
sunny bhau kyu fazzita karwa rahe ho yaar.. 😂😂😂,
— shikhargarry 🤙 (@shikhar_honey) March 15, 2023
we all now know what kl rahul can do, he can lose you matches at the quickest