India to persist with Rahul as wicketkeeper, says Kohli

India skipper Virat Kohli said on Sunday that he will persist with KL Rahul as wicketkeeper to lend balance to his side’s batting as they head for a tour of New Zealand.
India charged to a seven-wicket victory over Australia in Bangalore to clinch the three-match one-day international series 2-1.
Rahul, 27, donned the keeping gloves in the first game — won by Australia — after regular stumper Rishabh Pant suffered a concussion while batting, and was retained for the job in the two subsequent wins.
India begin their Kiwi tour on January 24 with five Twenty20 matches and Kohli believes Rahul’s dual role will boost their batting.
“It definitely allows us to play an extra batsmen which strengthens our batting massively,” Kohli told reporters.
“That is a very important factor as far as the team balance is concerned. If you look at the 2003 World Cup where Rahul (Dravid) bhai (brother) started keeping, the balance became different because you could play an extra batter and guys at the top could really play positive cricket.”