• Source:JND
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India vs England Test Series: KL Rahul will not be the first-choice wicketkeeper for India in the upcoming Test series against England at home as he will likely be playing as a pure batter.

India will be hosting England for a five-match Test series which begins on January 25 with the first Test scheduled to take place in Hyderabad.

Instead of Rahul, specialist wicket-keeper KS Bharat will take over the regular job, having been out of action since the World Test Championship final last year.

 

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As per a report in Indian Express, the Indian team is all set to prepare the turning pitches for the marquee series.

It is to be noted that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) senior selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, picked the two full-time wicket-keepers, Bharat and Dhruv Jurel in the 16-member squad for the first two Tests.

As per the report, the team management has made it clear to the selection committee that Rahul was asked to keep wickets in South Africa due to the bounce in the pitch.

 

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With the spinners coming into play on the turning tracks in India, the Indian team has informed the BCCI and selection committee that Rahul won’t keep wickets.

“The Indian team will once again be playing on a turner track, and the team management felt that specialist spinners should handle the job at home. The team has many quality spinners, and the team won’t take any chances, especially when the pitch being offered will be a turner,” the report quoted a BCCI source as saying.

India will be coming out with four spinners; Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav with three of them most likely to feature in the playing XI and make it a struggle for the English batters.

The report further suggested that the team management is keen to rotate the fast bowers throughout the series which means no bowler will be playing all five matches but also be given rest as per workload management. The first two Test matches will see Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan in action.

Mohammed Shami's availability for the series still remains unclear as he hasn't resumed bowling yet and wasn't even named in the squad for the first two matches.