K L Rahul will not keep wickets during the Test series against England, India Head Coach Rahul Dravid said on Tuesday.
'Rahul will not be the 'keeper during this series. We will go with another 'keeping option considering the five matches and the weather,' Dravid reasoned ahead of the opening Test in Hyderabad.
With Rahul out of contention, Dhruv Jurel and K S Bharat are the other 'keeping options at India's disposal.
Jurel has been handed a maiden Test call-up and has been rewarded for 790 runs in 15 first-class matches at an average of 46.47 with a century and five fifties to his credit, besides 36 dismissals.
The 23 year old scored 0 and 69 runs when part of the India 'A' squad on tour of South Africa. Against England Lions in the first four-day match, he scored 50 runs.
In the Ranji Trophy match sandwiched in between, he scored 63 runs for Uttar Pradesh against Kerala.
Bharat, 30, scored an attacking hundred for India 'A' against the England Lions on Saturday. Bharat has kept wickets in 91 first-class matches, of which 82 have been played in India, while collecting 287 catches and 33 stumpings.
Talking about the pitch, Dravid said, 'It may spin a little bit.'
On Monday, England's Test coach Brendon McCullum said, 'It looks like it's going to spin. It may not turn right from the word go, but you'd think at some stage it will turn and I'm sure spin will be a huge factor throughout the series.'
