Watch: KL Rahul’s response to Pant’s inclusion in the side

KL Rahul has been doing pretty much everything lately. He is batting well and scoring runs while at the same time he is keeping wickets for the side. His keeping hasn’t come into scrutiny so far as the Karnataka player has lived up to the expectations. In the first T20I against New Zealand, India went in with Rahul as the keeper once again after the experiment had worked well in the recently concluded series against Australia at home. Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson, who are with the squad for the T20I series in New Zealand, were not selected even though they were India’s first-choice keepers in the format for the last few months.

Rahul stays on the backfoot when asked about Pant’s inclusion

During the post-match press conference, Rahul was asked if he thinks that Pant would come into the XI for any match in the series and the batsman stayed on the backfoot for this one. Rahul didn’t seem to understand why the journalist had asked this to him. He responded by saying, “It’s not up to me”, clearing stating that the decision would be made by the team management. Here’s the video of the incident.

KL Rahul is not sure what to make of this question ? #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/UpSVHUTpb8

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 24, 2020

Rahul to continue as the keeper-batsman for India in T20 for now

Pant has been criticised for his inability to stay consistent with the bat, which has caused the Delhi player to lose his spot in the XI. After scoring runs in bulk as the keeper-batsman for the Delhi franchise in IPL, Pant was given chances to replicate the performance for the Indian team. But, the young batsman hasn’t responded to his critics.

During the first T20I, Rahul was handed over the gloves once again as Indian skipper had suggested after landing in New Zealand. Rahul also smashed a 23-ball fifty to give India a fantastic start in a run-chase of 204 runs. India eventually won the match with an over to spare. The second T20I will be played at Auckland on January 26. For now, it seems India has decided to set their eyes straight on Rahul as the keeper. Pant or Samson might have to wait for a while for getting their opportunity again. With Rahul being in some superb form with the bat, it might take some time for the two youngsters to come into the XI.