The IND vs ENG Test series will be the last chance saloon for India’s wicketkeeper KS Bharat. Predominantly now India’s backup keeper after KL Rahul’s return will get his final chance to keep. The BCCI has released India’s squad for the first 2 Test matches. This essentially means KS Bharat will have just 2 matches to impress the board and the selectors.
The good news for KS Bharat will be that KL Rahul will be used as a specialist batter. On the other hand, the bad news is that should he fail, young Dhruv Jurel is awaiting on the bench after his maiden team call-up.
There are options galore for India. If the KS Bharat experiment fails, India will likely fall back on KL Rahul rather than giving chance to the young Jurel in red ball cricket.
But the dynamics are strictly different for KS Bharat. It is a do-or-die chance for the 30 year old Andhra batter. Bharat got his chance for the team after warming the bench for 13 series. He was decent for India when both Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul were injured.
Interestingly, KS Bharat last featured for India in the WTC Finals back in June 2023. Though he has been playing well in Frist Class Cricket and in India A, it will be a big challenge for the player to shine with the bat in the crucial IND vs ENG Test series.
Squad for first 2 Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan
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