02-04-2020, 12:18 PM
![[Image: kl-rahul-will-continue-to-keep.jpg]](https://www.cricbuzz.com/a/img/v1/595x396/i1/c186335/kl-rahul-will-continue-to-keep.jpg)
India captain Virat Kohli has confirmed that KL Rahul will bat in the middle-order and keep wickets in the ODI series against New Zealand starting in Hamilton on Wednesday, effectively confirming the ODI debuts of Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.
The in-form Rahul's role as keeper-batsman has been a central theme to India's white-ball narrative over the last two series, more so in the context of how the management's decision affects the prodigious Rishabh Pant.
Rahul kept wickets and batted in the middle-order at Rajkot last month after Pant was concussed in an earlier game in Mumbai. The Karnataka man impressed with his glovework and displayed a new dimension to his batting, scoring a match-winning 52-ball 80 as a finisher. That coupled with Pant's erratic form meant India retained Rahul as the gloveman for the decider in Bengaluru even though Pant had recovered from his concussion.
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