‘You can see KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper’: Sunil Gavaskar predicts India’s line-up for the WTC final

India cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has said that the Indian batting lineup can be stronger if we play KL Rahul in place of KS Bharath as the wicketkeeper-batter for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final in Oval in June later this year.
Speaking on Sports Tak, Gavaskar said, “You can see KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper. If he bats at No.5 or 6 in at the Oval (in the WTC final) then our batting will be stronger. Because he batted really well in England last year. He scored a century at the Lord’s. Keep KL Rahul in mind when you pick your XI for the WTC final.”
Bharath made his debut in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, despite impressing with his wicket-keeping skills struggled with the bat. He scored 101 runs from six innings at a mediocre average of 20.20. The 29-year-old replaced Rishabh Pant in the line-up who has been ruled out of cricket for a while due to a car accident earlier this year.

Rahul on the other hand has been stripped of the vice-captaincy ahead of the third Test match of the series against Australia in Indore. The opener’s form in recent times has been poor. He hasn’t crossed the 25-run mark in his last 10 Test knocks. An average of less than 35 in 47 Tests isn’t an actual realisation of his real potential. However, he was dropped for the third Test and Shubman Gill was brought in who smacked a century in the final Test in Ahmedabad.

Rahul has been keeping for India in ODI cricket and bats in the middle order. He has never kept in Test match cricket for India. However, Gavaskar’s point of him playing well in England holds true. The last time the team visited there He along with Rohit Sharma have been sublime with the bat opening the innings and facing the new ball in swinging conditions.
Rahul scored 315 runs at an average of 39.38 in the series with a magnificent ton at the Lords.