KL Rahul is first-choice wicketkeeper over Rishabh Pant: Gautam Gambhir

Ahmedabad, Feb 13: India head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that KL Rahul is the first-choice wicketkeeper over Rishabh Pant ahead of the Champions Trophy beginning on February 19.

Pant and Rahul toured Australia with the Indian team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). Across the five Tests, Pant donned the gloves while Rahul filled in the position in the batting order according to the team's requirements.

However, the team dynamics shifted after India failed to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in a decade. For the three ODIs against England, Rahul was chosen to keep the wickets while Pant occupied a spot on the bench.

There were certain speculations before the third ODI that Pant could return to the playing XI. However, the speculations turned out to be untrue. Rahul retained his spot and delivered a fiery 40 off 29 deliveries, featuring three fours and a sole six in the first innings as India cruised to a 142-run victory.

With the Champions Trophy set to return next week after more than seven years, Gambhir backed Rahul as India's number-one wicketkeeper at the moment.

"See, ultimately, it's very difficult to talk about individuals, but all I can say is that if he's part of the squad when the time comes, he might get an opportunity, but at the moment, obviously, KL (Rahul) is the number one wicketkeeper, and he's delivered for us," Gambhir said in the post-match press conference.

Even though Rahul is tipped to retain his spot for next week's marquee event, Gambhir wants Pant to be ready whenever the opportunity presents itself.

"See, when you've got two wicketkeepers in the squad, you can't play both the wicketkeepers with the kind of quality we've got. Hopefully, whenever he gets that opportunity, he should be ready for it. That's all I can say. At the moment, yes, KL is the one who's going to start," he added.

After sweeping England away with a 3-0 series win, India will now fine-tune their preparations before beginning the Champions Trophy campaign on February 20 against Bangladesh in Dubai.