Kishan, Pant or Jurel: Who will be KL Rahul’s backup for NZ ODIs
With KL Rahul set to be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper, the battle for his backup has intensified ahead of the New Zealand ODIs. Ishan Kishan’s red-hot domestic form, Rishabh Pant’s experience and Dhruv Jurel’s consistency have turned the second wicketkeeper’s slot into a key selection dilemma as India fine-tune their white-ball plans
Dhruv Jurel, Ishan Kishan, and Rishabh Pant
NEW DELHI: One spot. Three contenders. And no obvious answer. The backup option for KL Rahul's wicketkeeper spot has quietly turned into a happy headache for the men's senior selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar.With the T20 World Cup around the corner, the ODIs have taken a backseat. However, the race for the second wicketkeeper’s role in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, starting January 11, has heated up, with Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel the contenders.
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In the ODI series against South Africa, Pant was slotted as the backup option, with Jurel picked purely as a batter. With Ishan bolting back into the T20 national reckoning after an exhilarating campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he has emerged as a strong contender.Ishan, who led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title, hammered 517 runs and was brought into India's squad for the T20 World Cup as a backup opener. Kishan also became only the second player to score a century (off 45 balls) in the tournament final.After a two-year absence from the national team, Ishan Kishan’s stock is rising again. The southpaw was asked to take rest by the BCCI after his blistering 39-ball 125 against Karnataka in Jharkhand’s opening fixture of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy but has now been instructed by the selectors to play two more matches, TimesofIndia.com has learnt.
“He (Ishan Kishan) has been given rest by the BCCI team. He has gone back home. He will be back on January 2,” Kumar Kushagra, Jharkhand’s stand-in captain, had said at the toss ahead of their match against Rajasthan.Kishan, who is in Patna, will join the Jharkhand squad on January 2 and will play the fixtures against Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, scheduled for January 3 and 6, respectively. “He is in the contention for sure,” a source tracking the developments tells TimesofIndia.com.The 27-year-old was very close to a return for the ODI series against South Africa, but his selection didn’t get the required support from the men who matter.“When I was not selected in the Indian team, I felt quite bad because I was doing well. But I told myself that if I am not selected with this sort of performance, then maybe I have to do more. Maybe I have to make my team win. Maybe we have to do well as a unit,” Kishan had said after the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final.If Kishan gets the nod, it could be a bit unfair to Rishabh Pant as the Test vice-captain has been warming the bench in ODIs for over a year now. He has been playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but the Delhi captain's returns have been mixed: in three matches, he has managed 97 runs, including a 70.Jurel, meanwhile, batting at No. 3 for Uttar Pradesh, is in red-hot form, hammering 307 runs in three matches, including his maiden List A hundred against Baroda.