“These ex-cricketers who are questioning and doubting his abilities should first take a look at themselves as how long they had flopped” – Gautam Gambhir fires shots against Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri for suggesting India tod rop KS Bharat for KL Rahul in the WTC final

Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, two of India’s most illustrious cricketers, have a new idea after seeing Rahul’s excellent performance as a wicketkeeper in the first ODI match against Australia. After KS Bharat’s disappointing batting performance, senior cricketers recommended that India test Rahul as wicketkeeper in the World Test Championship final. For his part, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir slammed the two legends and their idea, calling into doubt the wisdom of making such a snap decision.

Due to a lacklustre batting performance, Rahul was benched from the Indian Test squad for the last two games of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and even demoted to the role of vice-captain.

Nevertheless, Shastri and Gavaskar believe that Rahul should be included in India’s lineup for the WTC final at The Oval after he returned to the batting lineup with a magnificent 75* in India’s triumph over Australia at the Wankhede. Rahul has a respectable batting record in England, as he has hit two centuries, one of which he accomplished at The Oval in 2018.

Yet, despite being India’s first-choice wicketkeeper in white-ball cricket when Rishabh Pant is unavailable, Rahul has never played as a wicket-keeper in a Test match.

Gautam Gambhir fires shots against Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri when they suggested India to pick KL Rahul as a wicket-keeper in place of KS Bharat in the WTC final

Speaking to Sports Tak, Gambhir ripped apart the idea, questioning the wisdom of selecting a part-time wicketkeeper for such a critical match to be played in England, where he feels that wicketkeeping is not an easy chore. He also questioned the wisdom of ruling Bharat out of the WTC final after just four matches, when most of the best batters in the series had underperformed.

“They came to know in just 4 matches that KS Bharat is not a good wicketkeeper? And in those four matches, some of the big batters also failed to score runs. They are questioning his batting and wicketkeeping in just four matches? These ex-cricketers who are questioning and doubting his abilities should first take a look at themselves as how long they had flopped and how big a run had they gotten. In Test cricket, you should always go with a proper keeper. If KL Rahul is to be picked for the WTC final, it must be purely on the basis of his batting. England is not an easy place where you pick a part-time wicketkepeer. These ex-cricketers should know how important wicketkeeping is and one missed chance can change the entire match,” he said.

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