With multiple candidates for the wicketkeeping slot, who will India pick for their home series against Bangladesh?

The first Test series of India's 2024-25 home season is set to kick off next month against Bangladesh. Who are their options for the wicketkeeper role?

Since 2023, four players have kept wicket for India in Test cricket – KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel. With regular keeper Rishabh Pant missing the whole of 2023 through injury after his car accident in 2022, they have been in the mix at various times and for various reasons.

For all intents and purposes, Bharat is no longer realistically in the conversation. His diminishing returns with the bat have proven problematic and even though he played as recently as this year against England, he is unlikely to be picked for the Bangladesh series.

Ishan Kishan is also someone who will almost certainly not be selected, after he took a break from international cricket at the end of 2023 for mental health reasons, and subsequently lost out on a central contract for the 2023-24 season. He has not played any competitive cricket apart from the IPL in 2024.

Rishabh Pant: The clear favourite?

With Pant returning to action this year, it may appear a straightforward choice to select him. After all, he was the first-choice before his injury.

But the decision is not quite so straightforward. Pant made his return to cricket in the IPL, following which he played the T20 World Cup. Since then, he has played two more T20Is against Sri Lanka, and one ODI. All in all, since returning in April, he has 23 T20s and one ODI under his belt.

Pant's batting so far has been solid, if not spectacular. His wicketkeeping has also been largely up to the mark, apart from one significant lapse against Sri Lanka. But if he is to keep in five-day cricket, especially in India where spinners are likely to play a large role, the selectors might need to see more evidence that he can keep-up physically after so long out of the Test format.

What if Pant is not selected?

There are two realistic alternatives to Pant if India opt against picking him – KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel. It is entirely conceivable that both players end up in the squad if Pant is left out.

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Rahul has kept wicket consistently in white-ball cricket, but he has only taken the gloves for India on two occasions in his 50 matches. Both were on the tour of South Africa last December, where the selectors felt a specialist wicketkeeper was less important on the quick and bouncy surfaces.

He played the first Test against England this year as a batter, before suffering an injury which ruled him out of the rest of the series. So rather than as a keeper, it appears more likely that Rahul will be selected as a batter.

Dhruv Jurel has played just three Test matches so far, all against England earlier this year. He impressed many with the bat and at this early stage looks like a definite upgrade on Bharat in that regard. His keeping was also impressive, as he performed a quiet but effective job behind the stumps.

All in all, there are two clear favourites to be India's wicketkeeper against Bangladesh. Fitness is the issue for Pant, but if he is deemed healthy enough to keep, he is more or less a shoo-in for the role. If Pant does not make it back, Jurel is the most likely candidate to step in. Of course, in an emergency scenario where both players are ruled out, India can call on KL Rahul to fill in the gap.

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