Ravi Shastri, who used to be the head coach of India, thinks that India needs a wicketkeeper-batsman to back up KS Bharat for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). Shastri thinks that Sarfaraz Khan from Mumbai could be a good choice for that job.
There were short-lived rumors that KL Rahul would be the wicketkeeper in the WTC final against Australia. But those ended when the leader of the Lucknow Super Giants got hurt during a match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League 2023.
India hasn’t picked a sub for Rahul since he can’t play in the final, but Ravi Shastri thinks Sarfaraz Khan could do the job. Shastri told the media the following about Bharat’s place in India’s starting XI and Sarfaraz’s role as his backup:
“Bharat has to play now, especially if you have two spinners in England.” Conditions will be very important, but you have to put your best player on the field.
“After that, they need a batter who can keep wickets in case there’s a problem with a concussion.” Sarfaraz gets on that team because he has scored so many runs. Why not? “If he can keep wickets.”
Jaydev Unadkat, an experienced left-arm pacer, also hurt his shoulder in the nets, giving India another reason to worry about their health. He hasn’t been ruled out of the WTC final yet, but Ravi Shastri thinks that if that happens, India might call up Arshdeep Singh up for his first Test.
Shastri talked about Arshdeep’s great record at home and said:
“I think Arshdeep would be a good choice to replace Unadkat because he can swing the ball and also has a good record with the red ball.” “So that would make sense for a change.”
Some news sources say that Sarfaraz Khan is expected to be one of the players on standby for the WTC final. But it will be interesting to see if he can really replace Rahul in the lead team.
In limited-overs cricket, Arshdeep has shown that he can make the ball move both ways. If the weather is right at the Oval in London, where the World Test Championship final is set to start on June 7, he could be a problem.
