Former India selector Sarandeep Singh says that taking KS Bharat over Ishan Kishan as the wicketkeeper for the World Test Championship final against Australia is a no-brainer. He would also choose Umesh Yadav over Shardul Thakur in the starting 11. In place of the hurt Rishabh Pant, Kishan, who has never played a Test match, could be the X-factor, but Sarandeep thinks Bharat should be the first wicketkeeper in the team.
“Definitely KS Bharat. He is a real Test wicketkeeper, as we saw when he did a great job against Australia at home. He’s been around for a while, so he deserves the chance,” Sarandeep told the PTI news agency.
On June 7, the WTC final will be held at the Oval in London. The former India spinner said that Kishan would get his chance one day.
“Ishan is a leadoff man. I’m not trying to say that he can’t play Test cricket. He has a lot of potential, but in limited-overs cricket, he bats first. At number six, things will be different. “Yes, he hits hard from the first ball, which can backfire in England, but Bharat can also bat well and play shots,” he said.
“Umesh Yadav’s extra speed and old skills with the ball will be useful.”
Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, who were on fire in the IPL that just ended, will share the pace bowling duties, and the Indian team will have to decide between Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur for the third fast bowler. Sarandeep said, “I’m going with Umesh instead of Shardul because he has a bit more speed and can turn the old ball. He could be very useful on that oval track.”
He said, “All of India’s batters are in good shape going into the one-off game, which is good news for the team.” “” ‘m not worried about either hitting or bowling going into the final. They are all in shape. Yes, the weather in England will be tough, as they always are, and they will switch from T20 mode to Test mode. India will have to get used to the fact that the weather can change every day.
“We face a huge challenge in facing bowlers like Starc, Cummins, and Hazlewood, but we have a world-class batting attack.” “Shubman is the only one who hasn’t played much in England, but he’s in fantastic shape and could do well there,” said the 43-year-old, who was part of the selection panel when India won the historic series in Australia in 2021.”
Australian pacers are accustomed to bowling firm lengths and do not swing the ball as much as Indian or English quicks, which Sarandeep believes would benefit India. “The ball must first swing.” The majority of Australian pacers are known for their ability to strike the length forcefully. “They don’t swing the ball much,” Sarandeep explained.
The ICC should get a prize again if they win the WTC:
India hasn’t won an ICC title since 2013, even though they were considered favorites before each world event. Sarandeep said that the big games are all about facing pressure, and he hopes that India doesn’t have a bad day like they did at the T20 World Cup last year or in the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal against New Zealand.
“If you look at the 2019 World Cup, you’ll see that we won most of our games and were the favorites in the quarterfinals. Then it rained, the game had to be moved to a backup day, and we lost. If you look at the last two years, we did lose a lot to Pakistan and England, but (in WTC) things will change,” he said.
