Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that KL Rahul should be asked to play in the middle-order in ODIs considering how unstable the middle-order has been of late.
However, doing so will only increase the pressure on Rishabh Pant, who hasn’t been at his best in the ODI format. In addition, Rahul can function as the wicket-keeper which further threatens Pant’s spot in the eleven.
“The World Cup is one-and-a-half years away and we have seen a lot of things change in three months, this has been the story of Indian cricket of late. He [Rahul] will have to play in the middle order now. When he plays in the middle order, I feel he will put some pressure on Rishabh Pant as well,” Chopra told on Star Sports’ show, Game Plan.
“Pant will need to be consistent” – Aakash Chopra
India has two more options in Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav if there are middle-order issues. It won’t be long before the selectors start looking at them to replace Pant. As a result, the 24-year-old keeper will have to start showing consistency in the 50-over format.
“He [Pant] will need to be consistent. You can kill two birds with one stone because when KL Rahul had batted in the middle order in ODI cricket, he was playing as a wicketkeeper. He had performed that role well although he was given a chance to do that in very few matches,” he added.
Pant will have a chance to prove his worth when West Indies visits India for a white-ball series. The 3-match ODI series will begin on February 6.
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