Ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia next month, Team India suffered a huge setback when KL Rahul ruled himself out of the summit clash, as well as the remainder of IPL 2023. The Rohit Sharma-led now have a huge decision to make with regards to Rahul’s replacement in the squad for the WTC final. Sarfaraz Khan, who has impressed experts with his performances in Ranji Trophy, has emerged as a candidate, as far as Rahul’s replacement is concerned.
However, Ranji Trophy legend Amol Muzumdar picked Ishan Kishan as Rahul’s replacement, saying that the youngster should get his Test debut in the WTC final.
“Looking at the situation, what has happened to Rahul is unfortunate. But I would be inclined to include Ishan Kishan in the team, looking at his form. Why we talked about KL Rahul and KS Bharat… is because of the unfortunate incident to Rishabh Pant. Now, if you want a man-to-man replacement, you can’t get any closer to Pant than Ishan Kishan. So, he comes into my team. He should be included,” Muzumdar told ESPNcricinfo during an interaction.
Both Kishan and Sarfaraza have been named amongst the standby players for the WTC final, but Mazumdar feels that the young wicketkeeper-batter is the closest replacement to Rishabh Pant, adding that India need a genuine keeper for the final against Australia.
“I’ll stick with what I said. You need genuine keeper who can bat a little. KL Rahul was never an option, for me, at least, in Test matches. It’s okay for T20 or a fifty-over match, but for Test – especially in England – where the ball nibbles around, you need a genuine keeper,” Muzumdar added.
