Is K.L. Rahul destined for a long innings at the expense of Rishabh Pant?

Is K.L. Rahul following in his legendary namesake Rahul Dravid's footsteps? That's the question on the minds of Indian cricket fans now. For the uninitiated, Dravid, who was a pure batsman, was asked to don the wicketkeeping gloves in ODIs, under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly in the early 2000s, to accommodate an extra batsman in the team.

It was a shrewd move by one of India's finest skippers, and it helped the team find the right balance. “Dravid is a player who will walk on broken glass if his team wants him to” was how former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu put it, referring to his commitment to the team's interest.

Unlike Dravid, however, Rahul is no novice to wicketkeeping. He has kept wickets for his home team Karnataka and in IPL, too. His recent move to behind the stumps in the India-Australia ODI series was necessitated by regular keeper Rishabh Pant's injury. He suffered concussion after being hit on the helmet by a Pat Cummins bouncer in the first ODI in Mumbai, and missed the rest of it and also the second ODI at Rajkot. Pant was available for selection in the decider at Bengaluru, but Rahul was retained.

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Rahul made a fine case for his retention, too. He impressed with the bat, scoring 47 at no. 3 in the first match and a 52-ball 80 at no. 5 in the second ODI. Notwithstanding a dropped catch, he did a decent job behind the stumps, with the lightning-quick stumping of Aaron Finch in the second ODI being the highlight.

Rahul has been impressive with the bat recently. In the ODI series against the West Indies in December last year which India won 2-1, Rahul scored 102 and 77 in the second and third matches respectively. And in the three T20Is against them, he scored two fifties, including a 56-ball 91. In fact, Rahul has made the opening slot in T20s his own, despite the presence of proven players like Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma at the top.

Pant, on the hand, has been under the pump, both with the bat and behind the stumps. He has not been consistent with the bat and has been criticised for throwing away his wicket at crucial junctures in the matches. His ordinary wicketkeeping skills and poor DRS calls have added to the pressure. The crowd, too, have been unforgiving, chanting 'Dhoni, Dhoni' every time Pant puts a foot wrong on the field.

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Pant's talent was never in question. In IPL, where he made his mark, he averages around 37 with a strike rate of 161 in 54 matches. But, in T20Is, he averages only 19.9 with a strike rate of 119 in 23 matches.

Kohli and the team management had thrown their weight behind him despite widespread calls to try out exciting Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson or even young emerging talent K.S. Bharat. But it seems, for now, with Rahul performing well consistently with the bat and as a stand-in wicketkeeper, the skipper and coach Ravi Shastri might give him a longer run.

"We (Team India) are playing very well, unchanged team and did the job two with back to back wins (2-1 win over Australia),” said Kohli said at a media conference after the win. “Don't see any reason why we should change this balance. It has done well for the team," thus making it clear that Pant might have to wait a bit longer for his comeback in the playing XI.

"It (Rahul's keeping) definitely allows us to play an extra batsmen which strengthens our batting massively. That is a very important factor as far as the team balance is concerned," he said.

"If you look at the 2003 World Cup when Rahul bhai (Rahul Dravid) started keeping, the balance became different because you could play an extra batter and guys at the top could really play positive cricket," Kohli said referring to the India's runners-up showing in 2003.

"He (Rahul) is very open to playing anywhere because he is a proper batsman and can do you good in any format and any position in the game,” the skipper said.

With the T20 World Cup coming up in October this year in Australia, the team management might be tempted to give Rahul a longer run. If he succeeds, Pant and even Dhoni, who is on a seemingly never-ending sabbatical from cricket, might have to warm the benches, while the team can tinker around with the playing XI according to the conditions, especially once all-rounder Hardik Pandya is back from injury.

But former players like Syed Kirmani and Gautam Gambhir have asked the team management to exercise caution while handling the Rahul-Pant matter. While the former wicketkeeper called the move to persist with Rahul, a “big gamble”, Gambhir wants the team management to talk openly to Pant and Rahul about it.

However, there are other former stars like Kiran More and Virender Sehwag who have supported Team India's move to give Rahul a longer stint behind the stumps.

In 2003, Ganguly almost pulled off the gamble with Dravid, reaching the final of the World Cup. Can Kohli go the full distance in October this year in the T20 World Cup with Rahul? Fingers crossed.