Replacing Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps was not an easy task. The pressure was immense due to high expectations according to KL Rahul who is India’s wicketkeeper-batsman in the limited-overs format from last few months.
KL on wearing Dhoni’s shoes
MS Dhoni quit Test cricket long back in 2014. Since India’s World Cup exit in July 2019, Dhoni has been out of professional cricket. After a few trials with Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul was given the responsibility to keep the wicket in the limited-overs format as well. Speaking to Star Sports he said, “I was nervous when I was doing it for India because of the crowd pressure. If you fumble, people feel that you cannot replace MS Dhoni. The pressure of replacing a legendary wicket-keeper like MSD was immense as it involved people accepting someone else behind the stumps.”
Meanwhile, Dhoni was supposed to make a comeback during IPL 2020 but due to the pandemic, the start of the league got postponed until further notice. While a lot of former players believe that it would be difficult for Dhoni to make it to the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, a few still trust in his capability and aura.
Rahul on keeping
In the show named ‘Cricket Connected’, KL Rahul was asked about his experience with wicketkeeping. He said that he is generally behind the stumps in the Indian Premier League and also dons gloves for his Ranji team, Karnataka. He said, “People who follow cricket know that I haven’t been away from wicket-keeping for too long as I donned the gloves in the IPL and every time I played for Karnataka.”
According to the 28-year-old, “I am always in touch with wicket-keeping but am also somebody who is more than willing to take up the role if the team needs me to.”
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