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'Will take the wicket-keeper's role whenever team askes me to', says KL Rahul after India's 1st ODI against Bangladesh

He opined that he has been assigned the role by the management after careful assessment and also issued a clarification for Rishabh Pant’s exclusion.

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Team India lost the first of the three-match ODI series to hosts Bangladesh by a narrow margin of a wicket at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. KL Rahul, who returned to the side following a short break that he took from the recently concluded New Zealand series, shared his stance on the role assigned by his team.

READ: Watch: Virat Kohli dares Mushfiqur Rahim to step out of crease in 1st ODI, Bangladesh batter responds

The Men in Blue had an underwhelming outing with the bat against the Bangla Tigers as star wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul scored 73 runs to help the side attain a total of 186 in 41.2 overs. The batter who came out at the no. 5 spot opined that he has been assigned the role by the management after careful assessment and also issued a clarification for Rishabh Pant’s exclusion.

"We haven't played a lot of ODIs in the last 6-7 months, but if you look at, since 2020 or 2021, I have kept wickets in the one-day format, and I have batted at No. 4 and No. 5 in the middle order," Rahul said at his press conference after India's one-wicket defeat in Mirpur. "It's a role the team has asked me to be ready for."

The BCCI release that announced Pant's withdrawal from the ODI squad was worded opaquely - it simply said he had been released "in consultation with the BCCI medical team" - and Rahul had no additional information to share.

"When it comes to Rishabh I'm not very aware, to be honest. I just found out today, in the dressing room, that he's been released - I don't know what the reasons are, I think the medical team will be in a better situation to answer that question.

"But this is a role that the team's always asked me to be ready for in white-ball cricket, and I've done it before, and whenever the team wants me to play this role, I play this role."

The wicketkeeper-batter spoke about the match and stated that the rival side fought till the very end which is why they obtained the desired result in the narrow win.

READ: 'Felt we were 30-40 runs short by the end of 1st innings', says Rohit Sharma after India's one wicket loss vs Bangladesh

"You can expect the unexpected in this game. Such games keep happening, that's cricket. The game is never won till the last ball. Mehidy's innings and the way they fought till the end made the difference. One or two dropped chances hurt us too,” he added.

“But yeah, they played well. Bangladesh fought really hard today. We made some mistakes which we need to learn from and come back strongly. He (Mehidy) took risks and found the boundary. Bangladesh are playing at home and they are good here. They pose a tough challenge," concluded Rahul.

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