KL Rahul should keep wickets in Tests to accommodate Rahane in Playing XI: Gavaskar

New Delhi, Jan 24: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is miffed over Indian captain Virat Kohli for dropping Ajinkya Rahane from the side in the first two Tests against South Africa.

3rd Test Preview

As per the batting great, in order to resolve Team India's Playing XI conundrum, the team must develop KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper in order to accommodate Ajinkya Rahane as the extra batsman.

Rahane is being hailed by one and all as team's most equipped batsman for the overseas conditions but he has failed to make it to the side because skipper Kohli preferred his limited overs vice-captain over his deputy in Tests.

Gavaskar also opined that my making Rahul to done the wicketkeeper's gloves, the skipper gets the liberty of playing Rohit Sharma, who has replaced Rahane in the playing XI in the first two Tests.

Rahul has kept the wickets for his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) under Kohli in the past.

In a column for Times of India Gavaskar wrote, "Clearly, going into an overseas Test series with just five batsmen has not worked. Since South Africa are thinking in terms of going in with an all-pace attack, it might make sense for India to go in with Rahane and have Rahul keep wickets."

"It is a big risk but then Dinesh Karthik has not kept wickets for Tamil Nadu in every game last season. India may look to leave out Ashwin and bring in another new-ball bowler, with Pandya being the fifth bowler."

With the ongoing series being already lost Team India would come out to play for pride in the third and final Test at Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday (January 24). It is the batting that has been a major let down for the Indians in the series and Gavaskar feels batsmen would need to show better temperament to at least show some resistance.

"First things first; this Indian team has always played for the pride of representing India and given everything on the field. There is no doubting their skill levels. However, it is in the 'temperament' area that their batsmen have floundered and surrendered whatever advantage their bowlers gave them," Gavaskar said.

"The bowlers have bowled their hearts out, but again the fielding support has not always been as good as it should have been. That has allowed the lower order of the South African line-up to have those baby partnerships that have given the Proteas crucial extra runs.

"The pitches have not always been good for batting, with the one in Cape Town being one where even batsmen like Kohli and de Villiers never knew which ball would have their number on it. Even in Centurion, the pitch on the last two days was an up-and-down one, so chasing 250 was not going to be easy as it turned out," the cricketer-turned-commentator opined.

India have played two different wicketkeepers in the two Tests so far and if the reports are to be believed then Dinesh Karthik is likely to replace Parthiv Patel behind the stumps in the third Test.