Sydney: KL Rahul, who has been elevated to the vice-captaincy role for the upcoming ODI and and T20I series against Australia, on Wednesday said that he’s enjoying the dual responsibility of batting in the middle-order and keeping wickets for Team India.
Rahul was asked to keep wickets during the home ODI series against Australia earlier this year and bat in the middle-order, in the role of a finisher, which he did with full assurance.
Since that series, he displaced Rishabh Pant as India’s number one gloveman and also kept wickets for Kings XI Punjab in this year’s Indian Premier League.
With two back-to-back T20 World Cups coming up (in 2021 and 2022), followed by the 50-over World Cup (in 2023), Rahul believes the keeping role might become permanent, if he is consistent enough.
“I was’nt told anything and I don’t think we are looking that far. The last ODI series we played, I batted at five and kept wickets. It’s a role I quite enjoyed and happy to play the role the team gives me,’ Rahul said in a virtual press conference, ahead of Friday’s one-day series opener against Australia.
‘World Cups are important and is a long vision for every team. We are still taking it one game at a time. If I stay consistent, it gives us the option of playing an extra bowler or batsman. It’s a role I would love to do,’ he added.
The Karnataka batsman also said that he learnt a lot from former Team India captain MS Dhoni, whose inputs from behind the stumps often helped the bowlers plot dismissals.
‘I’ll probably give them (bowlers) feedback on what I feel can be a better length or a better pace to bowl at, or if they are doing something wrong, or if they can change the field set,” he said.
“I’ve done this in one series in New Zealand and I quite enjoyed it. Hopefully, I can get better at reading games and give the bowlers and captain some good feedback from behind the stumps,” he added.
