KL Rahul or Rishab Pant? Virat Kohli Confirms the wicket-keeper for New Zealand Tour!

India skipper Virat Kohli more or less confirmed that KL Rahul would don the wicket-keeping gloves at least for the first couple of T20Is against New Zealand. Rahul was designated the job after Rishab Pant was ruled out during the first ODI against Australia.

“It definitely allows us to play an extra batsman which strengthens our batting massively,” Kohli said after India won the ODI series against Australia.

“We have to persist with it as he has done well. We have to see whether it works, you cannot chop and change. I do not see why we should change this playing XI,” he added.

Kohli also cited Rahul Dravid as an example from the 2003 World Cup to justify his say. “That is a very important factor as far as the team balance is concerned. If you look at the 2003 World Cup where Rahul (Dravid) bhai (brother) started keeping, the balance became different because you could play an extra batter and guys at the top could really play positive cricket.” 

India will begin their New Zealand tour on January 24 with 5 T20I matches. They will also play 3 ODIs and 3 Test matches.