Nagpur: Finding the right playing eleven is what worries the Indian team management the most in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Along with finding the right bowling and batting combination, who will be the wicket keeper is also a popular question. The wicket-keeper position has been confused as regular wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant is undergoing treatment after being injured in a car accident. Wicketkeeper KL Rahul is sure of the playing eleven but considering the batting weight, Rahul may not be given the wicketkeeper’s glove.
With this, after a long wait of one and a half years, specialist wicketkeeper KS Bharat is getting ready to make his Test debut. ‘Bharat has been a player on the bench of Team India for almost a year and a half. KL Rahul has been injured a lot in the last one year. So it is not easy to entrust Rahul with wicket-keeping. Tests require specialist wicketkeepers. KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan are the specialist keepers in the team. “It is the team management’s decision to play among them,” the BCCI top brass told Inside Sport.
Ishan Kishan has the upper hand in white ball cricket, but KS Bharath is likely to get a chance in Tests. Kishan’s form has not been good in recent times. Bharat is in top form in First Class and List A. Hence, India may debut as a wicketkeeper in the Nagpur Test against Aussies. KS Bharat reached the Test squad in May 2021. The player came to the team as a cover for Wriddhiman Saha.
Indian squad for first two matches: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja (Fitness), Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jayadev Unadghat, Suryakumar Yadav.
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Last Updated Feb 6, 2023, 10:21 AM IST