Fans will watch two legends of the cricket world battle it out for the biggest crown in Test cricket at the Kennington Oval in London. Indian Cricket Team led by Rohit Sharma And Pat Cummins, Australia will face off in the final of World Test Championship (WTC) From June 7, 2023 to June 11, 2023. However, ahead of the WTC final, Team India has a major issue regarding the wicketkeeper slot.
Injuries to key players including first-choice wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and back-up KL Rahul, has put the Indian setup in quite a dilemma. In the absence of both Pant and Rahul KS Bharath And Ishan Kishan He has been included in India’s Test squad for the final championship match to be held next month.
Bharat represented the country in the longest format when he was recently allowed to do the glove-work for the team in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 held in February-March. The 29-year-old gave an excellent account of himself as a wicket-keeper but failed to show his full potential with the bat as he managed just 101 runs in six innings in spin-friendly conditions.
Kishan, on the other hand, warmed the benches during the four-match Test series against Australia and Rahul was included in the WTC squad only after an injury during the IPL ruled him out of the one-off affair.
former indian coach Ravi Shastri In the latest episode of the ICC review, he was asked about which wicket-keeper India should go for and said the choice depends on the conditions at the South London venue.
“Look, this is another tough (decision). Now if two spinners are playing then you would want Bharat to play. You have to see who is the better wicketkeeper. Is it India or Ishaan Kishan? Now, the fact that Bharat was given a run against Australia, where he played all the Test matches, makes me think he would be the obvious choice to go.” Shastri said this on ICC review
“There’s not much. It’s not that one guy is better than the other. The batting will also come in handy, whether you want Ishan Kishan to take the middle order up. That’s another thing you have to take into perspective.” Shastri added.
“Are you going to go with four fast bowlers? There is not much spin then and you need someone good behind the stumps to do the job. So leave it up to you team management. Just before the game, they will consider these little things I just said, and clearly look at the current form. Shastri said in a video posted by the ICC.
former indian wicket keeper Dinesh Karthik, However, the selection seems easy with the experienced batsman – who played in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) – choosing Bharath’s experience for the big occasion.
“I think Bharat will be a fairly straightforward choice because playing a Test match for Ishan Kishan on his debut and straight into the World Test Championship final is asking too much.” Karthik said.
“And the fact is that KS Bharat probably tipped the scale a little bit in his own favor with this keeping edge that he’s got. So I think he will go with KS Bharath in the final.” Karthik added.
Though the Visakhapatnam-born Bharath has played only four Test matches so far, he has 90 first-class games to his credit in the longest format. Kishan is yet to make his Test debut and has only 48 first-class matches behind him.
While Bharat may be a better option behind the stumps, Kishan is a skilful batsman and has an ODI double century to his credit after scoring a brilliant 210 against Bangladesh in Chattogram last December.
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