Indian wicketkeeper and hitter KS Bharat is competing with Ishan Kishan for one spot in Team India’s final playing XI for the WTC Final against Australia on Wednesday at the Oval in London. It looks like Bharat now has the edge over Kishan and is set to keep wicket in the WTC Final in place of Rishabh Pant, who won’t be there.
Bharat said on Monday that the famous MS Dhoni gave him wicketkeeping tips during the just-ended Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season and that his wicketkeeping knowledge is amazing. The Indian wicketkeeper told the ICC that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni gave him some advice before the match against Australia at The Oval starting on June 7.
“I recently talked to Dhoni during the IPL. He talked about what it was like to be a wicketkeeper in England and what any wicketkeeper should do to be the best at what they do. “We had a great conversation, and I learned a lot from it,” Bharat told the ICC website.
Getting advice from Dhoni was especially important because Bharat said that Dhoni was a good example of what makes a good wicketkeeper. “It’s about being aware. MS Dhoni is a great example of someone who is very aware of keeping Keeping a house is a difficult job, so you have to want to do it and be passionate about it. On a test day, there are 90 overs, and you have to pay attention to each ball. “You have to accept the challenges, embrace them, and be really passionate about what you can do for the team,” Bharat said.
One of India’s most important choices before the first day of play on Wednesday is whether or not to put Bharat in the XI. The 29-year-old has only played four Tests for India. All of them were against Australia earlier this year when Rishabh Pant was hurt and he filled in for him. Bharat got a spot on the team because of how good he was with the gloves, but his hitting in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series was bad. In six games, he only got as high as 44.
India might play the one-off Test with the fiery left-handed batsman Ishan Kishan. Kishan is India’s other wicketkeeper choice. He came to England after a successful IPL season in which he made 454 runs in 16 innings for the Mumbai Indians, including three fifties. But he hasn’t made it to the Test starting XI yet, even though he has 2,985 runs at an average of 38.76 in 48 first-class matches, including six centuries and 16 fifties. On the other hand, Bharat has scored 4,808 runs in 90 FC matches, with an average of 37.27. He has nine centuries and 27 fifties.
