Ravi Shastri believes India can go in this player as the wicketkeeper in the World Test Championship Final.
After the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, it is time for Team India to shift focus to Test cricket. The Indian Test team, under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, will face Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final next week. Ahead of the WTC summit clash, a conundrum about wicketkeepers seems to be bothering the team management a bit. KL Rahul’s injury and Rishabh Pant’s unavailability compelled the selection committee to add Ishan Kishan to India’s WTC final squad. But Ishan could be sidelined as Team India have KS Bharat in the squad. Ravi Shastri, who was India’s head coach during their last WTC final, recently shared his view on the dilemma.
“Now the choice has to be between KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan. I have a feeling that India might just go with…depending on who is playing…two spinners are playing, maybe KS Bharat. But if there are four seamers and one spinner then it will go the other way. Six will be Jadeja, 7 will be Mohammad Shami, 8 will be Mohammed Siraj, 9 will be Shardul Thakur. 11 will be Ravichandran Ashwin and 12 will be Umesh Yadav,” Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying on Star Sports.
KS Bharat has so far represented India in four Test matches. With 101 runs to his name, Bharat has recorded an average of 20.20. He was last seen in action during the fourth game of the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia in March. Ishan Kishan, on the other hand, has not featured in a Test match yet.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named a 15-member squad for the WTC final in April. Ajinkya Rahane made a comeback. He played his last Test match against South Africa in January 2022. Shreyas Iyer, who was deemed as Rahane’s replacement originally, failed to make the cut due to a back injury. In the bowling unit, India’s ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was also not named in the WTC final squad owing to injury.
The WTC final between India and Australia is scheduled to start from June 7 at The Oval in London.