Will not risk KL Rahul with wicketkeeping: Former India cricketer insists on having specialist keeper

Former Indian cricketer Laxman Sivaramakrishnan feels the Men in Blue need not put added pressure on vice-captain KL Rahul to don the gloves in the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh.

Shreyas Iyer has been in tremendous form, while wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been the complete opposite. This has made many ponder whether India can ask Rahul to keep wickets and then play both him and Iyer in the middle order.

However, speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda in an interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network, Sivaramakrishnan explained why the Men in Blue need specialist wicket-keepers and shouldn't 'risk' Rahul with the gloves. He said:

"I will not risk KL Rahul with wicketkeeping if he isn't fully fit or if he is coming out from an injury. I will want him for the Tests after the ODIs. Sanju Samson has warmed the benches for a long time and deserves a chance. Ishan Kishan is there as well."

---

Will leave KL Rahul out and play Shreyas Iyer: Sivaramakrishnan

Sivaramakrishnan also claimed that if there's only one spot available for Shreyas Iyer and Rahul, he will pick the former because of his incredible form of late. Iyer has a staggering five fifties in his previous nine ODI innings and the former cricketer feels it is an absolute no-brainer to play him in the XI.

On this, he stated:

"I will leave KL Rahul out and play Shreyas Iyer. When somebody is in good form, you must give them a long run. What they're doing here is that they're giving a long run to someone who's out of form. So how can you drop someone who's in good form? It doesn't make any sense to me."

India's squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen.