WTC Final 2023: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri and experienced wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik have offered their views on India’s wicketkeeping option for the World Test Championship final against Australia. India have been hampered by injuries to a few first-choice wicketkeeping options Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul. Follow WTC Final 2023 LIVE updates with InsideSport.IN.
India choose to go with KS Bharat as the wicketkeeper-batter for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The result though did not yield favorable results as Bharat failed to score a single fifty in four Test matches.
The right-hand batter also missed a few easy chances behind the stumps. However, with the injury to KL Rahul, Bahrat has been chosen as the designated wicketkeeper batter for WTC Final. Apart from Bharat, Ishann Kishan is the another keeper batter.
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Shastri was asked about the wicket-keeper that India should go for in the latest episode of The ICC Review and said the choice depends on the conditions at the south London venue. “See, that’s another tight one (decision). Now, if two spinners are playing, then you would want Bharat to play,” Shastri said as quoted by ICC.
“You have to see who’s a better keeper. Is it Bharat or Ishan Kishan? Now, the fact that Bharat was given a run against Australia, where he played all the Test matches, I think he would be the obvious choice to go with.”
Ishan Kishan is yet to make his Test debut. The southpaw is an explosive option lower down the order, and can take the game away from the opposition. Shastri feels if India want to beef up the batting order then they go with Kishan as the wicketkeeper batter.
“There’s not much there. It’s not that one guy is far better than the other,” Shastri said.
“Batting will also come into play, whether you want Ishan Kishan’s batting to shore up the middle order. That’s another thing you’ll take into perspective.”
“Are you going to go with four fast bowlers? Then there’s not much spin and you just need someone decent behind the stumps to do the job.”
“So that you would leave to team management. Just before the game, they would weigh in just these little things that I’ve just said, and obviously look at current form.”
WTC Final 2023: Karthik chooses Bharat over Kishan on basis of experince
However, Karthik thinks the selection is a simple one, with the veteran wicket-keeper – who played in the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore – choosing the experience of Bharat for the big occasion.
“I think Bharat will be a pretty straightforward choice because playing Ishan Kishan in his debut and a Test match straight in the World Test Championship Final is asking a bit too much,” Karthik said.
“And the fact that KS Bharat probably tips the scale in favour of himself just a little bit with this keeping edge that he has got. So I do think they will go in with KS Bharat for the final.”
Though 29-year-old Bharat has played only four Test matches so far, he has the experience of 90 first-class games in the longer format. Kishan is still to make his debut in Tests and has only 48 first-class appearances behind him.
While Bharat may be the better option behind the stumps, Kishan is an accomplished batter and already has an ODI double-century to his name following his superb innings of 210 against Bangladesh in Chattogram at the end of last year.
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