India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul has admitted to competition with Rishabh Pant in the ODI team. Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of India’s final group stage game in the Champions Trophy, Rahul has said that there is always a temptation for the coach and the captain to play Pant ahead of him.
In a candid press conference, Rahul called Pant a very talented player, but argued that despite the competition, he would not like to play a different brand of cricket. Rahul made the No. 5 spot in the Indian ODI team his own during the ODI World Cup 2023, where he scored 452 runs at an impressive average. Rahul was the preferred choice amongst keepers in the Champions Trophy as well, under the management of Gautam Gambhir.
“There is (competition with Pant), I won’t lie. He is a very talented player and has shown all of us what he can do and how aggressively he can play and how quickly he can change the game. So there is always a temptation in the team with the captain and the coach to think if they should play him or play me. For me, whenever I get the opportunity, I try and see what I can do best. I am not trying to compete with Rishabh. I am not trying to play like him, or I am sure when he gets a chance, he is not trying to play like anybody else. He is picked on the basis of how he can play, and the same applies to me,” KL Rahul said ahead of the match during the press conference in Dubai.
The batter hinted that it was unlikely that Rishabh Pant would get to play a single game in the Champions Trophy due to the nature of the tournament. KL said that there was just one day’s gap between India’s final group game and the semi-finals, hence India was likely to stick with the same playing XI. Earlier, former pacer Atul Wassan had slammed the Indian team management for benching Pant in the tournament, claiming that India will ruin Pant if they make him sit on the bench.
“Luckily I am not part of the leadership group. I don’t have to make that decision. There will be some temptation to try out players who have not gotten a game. But I don’t think that will happen in the Champions Trophy, because there is just one day’s break between the final group-stage game and the semi-final. That is my version,” KL Rahul said.
In India’s previous game against Pakistan, captain Rohit Sharma and pacer Mohammed Shami were out of the ground due to fitness issues. Rahul updated on the situation and said that both players were fine and that there were no injury concerns in the team.
