In the first T20I between New Zealand and India at the Eden Park, KL Rahul played a scintillating knock of 56 runs and gave a flying start to the tourists’ chase of 204 runs after Rohit Sharma departed for just 7 in the second over.
The Men in Blue later cruised to a six-wicket win over the Black Caps and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
KL Rahul smashed a 27-ball 56 against New Zealand today #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/ePYG9xvMHw
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) January 24, 2020
At the post-match press conference in Auckland, a journalist asked Rahul: “Do you see Rishabh Pant coming
into the XI and playing in this series?”
To this, he replied: “It’s not up to me, I mean.”
Rahul, however, added that he is ‘loving’ the dual role of a ‘keeper-batsman’ in the Indian side.
“I’m quite honestly loving it. At the international stage, it might seem very new, and it might seem like I’ve never kept. (But) I’ve kept for my IPL franchise for the last 3-4 years, and I’ve kept for my first-class team as and when there is an opening. I’ve still stayed in touch with wicket keeping,” Rahul said.
The 22-year-old Pant, who had been a regular wicket-keeper of Team India now for more than a year, was replaced by Rahul after the southpaw suffered a concussion in the first ODI against Australia at Wankhede, Mumbai. Instead of going for an additional wicket-keeper in the team, the management has decided to go for Rahul in the New Zealand T20Is.
