As Rohit Sharma likely to return, KL Rahul should be dropped, feels Deep Dasgupta.
Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta said that India will have to take a big call to choose between KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma for the opener’s position in the remainder of the five-match T20I series against England.
Deep Dasgupta, while speaking to Sports Today on Monday, said that youngster Ishan Kishan should deserve another chance to open for India after his match-winning knock on debut in the 2nd T20I against England.
However, Rohit Sharma was rested for the first two T20Is after the Test series. In his absence, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul opened in the first game whereas Ishan replaced Dhawan in the second game. Meanwhile, Kohli had mentioned that Rohit would rest for first two games and they are trying out their bench strength for the upcoming T20 World Cup later this year as well which will take place in India.
However, it remains a surprise if the team management will decide to bring back Rohit Sharma for the next game, which will take place in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, March 16. Ishan Kishan, who smashed a match-winning 56 off just 32 balls in his first game on Tuesday and helped India win, is likely to retain his place in the playing XI.
KL Rahul is likely to be dropped for Rohit Sharma
Deep Dasgupta, on the other hand, believes that KL Rahul can be rested if India are trying to bring back Rohit Sharma for the rest of the series. Rahul is one of the key players for India in white-ball cricket but he failed to score big in the first two games in the ongoing series.
“Yes, KL Rahul. He has been brilliant but in the last two games, he has been out of sorts which is understandable as he has not played cricket in a while. You know the last competitive cricket he played was against Australia in December. So keeping all that in mind I can understand,” Dasgupta said.
“Virat [Kohli] mentioned that Rohit will rest for two and two is gone. And Ishan has played the way he has. So it’s a big call to take whether you rest Rahul and get Rohit. It’s the logical thing to do. I think the way Ishan batted and you need someone like that especially in this format and can bat fearlessly,” he again shared
“Rishabh [Pant] batting at 4 was a good idea to get that momentum going. If Rohit has to play the logical line will be KL Rahul has to rest,” he concluded.
