The absence of Rishabh Pant has brought forward the dilemma of who should be keeping wickets among Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat against the West Indies yet again.
So far having played five Tests, Bharat has only scored 129 runs whilst averaging 18.42. Behind the stumps, the Andhra Pradesh keeper has been impressive but it’s with the bat that he has to step up to stave off any competition for the time being.
India does have the option of benching Bharat and picking Kishan, the left-hander who has a wide range of shots having already made an impression in white-ball cricket.
Kishan is yet to play Tests and his last first-class game came in December. His average of 38.76 after 48 matches in the first-class format is decent.
In the modern game, Test sides require their keeper to be solid with the bat and Rishabh Pant fits the mould having proven himself time and again.
Other than his unbeaten 23 on a tough track in New Delhi during the 2nd Test against Australia earlier in the year, Bharat has had a difficult period with the bat. His best knock of 44 runs came against the Aussies on a dead track against the same side in Ahmedabad, where the Test ended in a draw.
In the World Test Championship final against Australia, the player looked clueless when up against Scott Boland. He hardly impressed in the first innings and scored 23 runs in 41 balls in the second dig.
However, former India national selector Devang Gandhi has advised to persist with Bharat.
“In terms of continuity, Bharat should get another chance. He has played a few Tests, which means he has gained a bit of experience,” Gandhi told The Telegraph.
He feels that the intra-squad game ahead of the first Test against the West Indies should have given the team management a better idea of who should be picked as the keeper.
“If Bharat looked sharp with the bat as well as behind the stumps in the warm-up game, I feel he should be persisted with, at least for the first Test,” Gandhi said.
Devang believed that if Kishan had performed well in both keeping as well as batting, it’s fair to pick him over Bharat. His lack of red-ball cricket was an argument against his selection but added that Kishan has had time to get prepared since he was in the squad for the final of the WTC.
Former selector and BCCI general manager Saba Karim firmly believed that Bharat deserves more chances.
On Bharat’s performance in the WTC Final, he said, “He did a pretty decent job as a keeper in the WTC final in English conditions.”
Karim also mentioned that when selected the player has to be groomed so that he has more confidence when out on the field.
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