India's new wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul on Monday revealed the massive pressure of filling in MS Dhoni's shoes behind the stumps. With the veteran taking a sabbatical after the 2019 World Cup semi-final exit, India first tried Rishabh Pant behind the wicket before turning to Rahul to don the wicket-keeping gloves in the shorter formats of the game.
Pant was opted as India's sole wicketkeeping option after World Cup 2019, but following a string of poor performances in limited-overs cricket, India had called in Sanju Samson as a back-up option during the Bangladesh series at home, but persisted with the Delhi cricketer. However, following an injury in the Australia ODI series in January, India went in with Rahul as their wicketkeeper. The Karnataka cricketer did not just perform impressively behind the stumps, he also scored big runs down the batting lineup, hence solving India's middle-order crisis.
Speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Rahul 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. I am always in touch with wicket-keeping. I am also somebody who is more than willing to take up the role if the team needs me to.
"I was nervous when I was doing it for India because of the crowd pressure. If you fumble a ball, people feel that you cannot replace M.S. Dhoni. The pressure of replacing a legendary wicket-keeper like MSD was immense as it involved people accepting someone else behind the stumps."
With the IPL postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, there have been quite a few debates on Dhoni's future with an eye on the World T20 because head coach Ravi Shastri had earlier said that the IPL would decide if Dhoni will be a part of the team for the showpiece event.
"It all depends on when he starts playing and how he is playing during the IPL. What are the other people doing with the wicket-keeping gloves or what is the form of those players as opposed to Dhoni's form. The IPL becomes a massive tournament because that could be the last tournament after which more or less your 15 is decided.
"There might be one player who might be there and thereabouts in case of an injury or whatever. But your team I would say would be known after the IPL. What I would say is rather than speculating of who is where, wait for the IPL to get over and then you are in a position to take a call on who are the best 17 in the country," he had said.
