The final of the World Test Championship (WTC) is around the corner and while almost every department seems sorted, India’s wicketkeeping option remains a mystery. With KL Rahul injured, the slot for a specialist wicketkeeper is open with Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat being the two contenders. Bharat was a back wicketkeeper after the controversial retirement of Wriddhiman Saha, but the unfortunate accident of Rishabh Pant elevated the Andhra Pradesh gloveman as one of the top prospects. In fact, he went on to make his debut in India’s last series, which was at home against Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
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Ishan, on the other hand, is coming off some impressive knocks in the Indian Premier League, where he has amassed 454 runs from 15 innings. In fact, many have expressed that the left-hander’s aggressive batting could be an X-factor in the absence of Pant, who is recovering from his accident.
While we will find the answer to the same on June 7, Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has expressed his opinion on it. The Rajasthan Royals spinner feels that it is important to support both players while also adding a great opportunity for them to prove themselves in the red-ball setup.
“Rishabh is an attacking batsman and of course everyone misses him. But you can’t really do much about that and the players who traveled there stand back. We have to support KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan. They have played a lot of cricket and are experienced enough. Ishan is somewhat similar to Pant. This is also an opportunity for them to prove themselves in the longer format,” Chahal said News18 in an interview.
However, the concern is that both Ishan and Bharat are new to the Test set-up. While Bharat is old for four Tests, Ishan is yet to make his debut for India in the longer format.
Source: Hindustan Times