Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has given his opinion on the choice of choosing between KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan for the wicketkeeper position in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. According to Shastri, there is very little difference between the qualities of Bharat and Ishan Kishan.
Bharat made his Test debut for India during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and then he was included in the squad for the WTC final. He has primarily served as a backup wicketkeeper for Team India in the absence of Wriddhiman Saha. Kishan was also called up to the Test squad before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but did not get an opportunity to play as Bharat featured in all four matches.
While talking in the latest episode of ICC, Shastri expressed his belief that KS Bharat who was given an opportunity against Australia, should be the clear choice for the wicketkeeper slot in the WTC final. Shastri said that KS Bharat could be added to the team as the prime wicket-keeper, however, Ishan Kishan could be another option due to his hard-hitting batting abilities.
“See, that’s another tight one (decision). Now, if two spinners are playing, then you would want Bharat to play. You have to see who’s a better keeper. Is it Bharat or Ishan Kishan? Now, the fact that Bharat was given a run against Australia, where he played all the Test matches, I think he would be the obvious choice to go with,” Shastri said.
KS Bharat has played only six innings in which he has scored 101 runs and he has also shown his strong wicket-keeping techniques behind the wickets.
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“There’s not much there. It’s not that one guy is far better than the other. Batting will also come into play, whether you want Ishan Kishan’s batting to shore up the middle order. That’s another thing you’ll take into perspective. Are you going to go with four fast bowlers? Then there’s not much spin and you just need someone decent behind the stumps to do the job,” he added.
