KL Rahul or KS Bharat - Who Will Be Wicketkeeper In IND vs ENG Tests?

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KL Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel are the three wicketkeeping options selected in the Indian squad for the first two Tests of the upcoming five-match home series against England.

Rahul, who has held the wicketkeeping gloves since the ODI World Cup last year, also continued in the role in the longest format during the two Tests in South Africa despite Bharat being available for selection.

Since Rishabh Pant's injury in late 2022, wicketkeeping responsibilities have been shared between Bharat, Rahul and Ishan Kishan in Test cricket. While Bharat kept wickets in the five Tests at home against Australia and the WTC final, Kishan donned the gloves in the 2 Tests in West Indies.

Kishan, who withdrew from the squad for the South Africa series, was excluded from the Tests against England with Jurel earning his first call up to Tests. Now, the question remains on who will don the wicketkeeping gloves during the Test series against England.

That doubt was cleared as per few reports that quoted a reliable source from the BCCI, who revealed that Rahul will play the series as a specialist batter and the source also revealed the reason why a specialist wicketkeeper will take the wicketkeeping duty.

"Rahul will play as a specialist batter from now on. While in overseas Tests you just have to stand back to the pacers, wicketkeeping in India, where spinners may operate in tandem, isn't easy," a BCCI source was quoted as saying by Times of India.

"The ball can bounce or turn viciously on the spin friendly home wickets. You've to keep moving up and down as a 'keeper. We want a specialist in that role."

India has named four spinners in the squad - Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. At least three spinners are guaranteed to play in the Tests as wickets are expected to turn.

The source also added why Rahul will not be burdened in the role as the team see him as batter, revealing that Bharat and his cover Jurel will be the two wicketkeeping options in the England series.

"Rahul is also one of our most valuable batting assets. We don't want to burn him out by making him do the glovework as well. There is also a risk of him catching an injury while standing behind the stumps, which we can't afford. Bharat and Jurel will be our wicketkeepers in this series," the BCCI source added.

India will first host England at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in the series opener, which is scheduled to from January 25. The next four Tests will be staged in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala.