"Just because his name is Rahul, will you keep drumming him?" - Aakash Chopra on choosing between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant for IND vs ENG 2025 ODIs

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are in contention to be the Men in Blue's first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in the upcoming ODI series against England for different reasons. While observing that Pant provided a left-handed batting option, he pointed out that Rahul hadn't done anything wrong to be ignored.

India will square off against England in three ODIs, with Nagpur hosting the first game on Thursday, February 6. The series will help the two sides prepare for the Champions Trophy 2025, to be played in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 onwards.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener was asked to choose between Rahul and Pant as the hosts' first-choice wicketkeeper-batter for the England series.

"There are two schools of thought. One is that you have all right-handers, Shubman Gill is there with Rohit Sharma, then Virat Kohli, Rahul and Hardik Pandya. So don't you want a left-hander there? People who come with that thinking are saying Rishabh Pant should be played," Chopra responded.

"What goes in KL Rahul's favor is what wrong has he done. Just because his name is Rahul, will you keep drumming him? Will you keep getting him to do all the jobs, whether it's keeping, going down or up the order, and serving the drinks? No, that's not going to happen," he added.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Rahul had impressed as a wicketkeeper-batter in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

"He played well in the World Cup. I still remember the Australia match at Chepauk. India were reduced 25/3, something like that, and he performed like a Player of the Match. Then he continuously scored alright. He was criticized a lot for batting a little slow in the final, but we might not have reached where we reached if he had gotten out instead of batting slow," Chopra elaborated.

Rahul amassed 452 runs at an average of 75.33 in 10 innings in the 2023 ODI World Cup. He scored an unbeaten 97 off 115 deliveries in India's six-wicket win in their tournament opener against Australia. However, his 107-ball 66 couldn't help the hosts avoid a six-wicket defeat against the same opponents in the final.

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"I am going with KL Rahul" - Aakash Chopra for IND vs ENG 2025 ODIs

KL Rahul has amassed 2851 runs at an average of 49.15 in 72 ODI innings. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that KL Rahul should play ahead of Rishabh Pant in the upcoming ODI series between India and England.

"I am going with KL Rahul. I am going with continuity. Why would you drop someone who hasn't done anything wrong just because someone else does well? Rishabh Pant's ODI record is a work in progress and KL Rahul hasn't done anything wrong. So Rahul should be the frontrunner," he reasoned (9:55).

Pant doesn't have a great record in ODIs. He has aggregated 871 runs at an average of 33.50 in 27 innings.