Indian wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat is under fire in the field for not taking the easy chance to dismiss Travis Head–and allowing easy byes during India’s bowling in the 1st session of Day 1 of the Ahmedabad Test. The missed opportunity by Bharat would have certainly been a talking point–and one that the Indian team would look to rectify in the future.
Cricket experts part of the Broadcasting unit of Star Sports slammed KS Bharat for his poor wicket-keeping in the 1st session–and for letting down a straightforward chance to dismiss Travis Head.
Commentating on star sports Gavaskar said, ” It’s as easy as they come. Of course in Test cricket no catch is easy. But have a look at this. Just fishing for the ball outside off stump. IN and it goes down”.
Hayden added that Bharat has got himself in the wrong position–and he had very less movement to adjust to take that catch. Former Indian Coach Ravi Shastri slammed Bharat for not taking that absolute sitter.
Dinesh Karthik, who played 26 tests for India feels that Bharat was slightly nervous–and his hands were lower and harder which made it difficult to take that catch.
“You get the feeling that he is slightly nervous. Hands were lower than where the ball was. The one thing that you have to say is that the ball is wobbling. Doing more than what he thinks. The hands were slightly lower than where they should have been. Harder as well; tells me he is nervous at this point,” Dinesh Karthik said.
Earlier, Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss–and elected to bat first in the fourth–and final Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Australia is going unchanged into the contest–and will look to put a big score on board.
We Will Continue To Back KS Bharat – Indian Skipper Rohit Sharma
KS Bharat is going through an off day in the field. Before the start of the game, reports were suggesting that he might be dropped from the playing XI to make room for Ishan Kishan. But the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma continued to back Bharat and said that he will be given a few more chances to prove himself.
“He has spent a lot of time in domestic cricket, played a lot of Ranji Trophy, India ‘A’ team cricket, Zonals, and scored a lot of runs. So it will be slightly unfair to judge him on these pitches. If someone’s making a debut in the series, you’ve got to give him enough room or enough innings for him to set himself up for a big score,” speaking to the media Rohit Sharma said.
The Indian team will hope that Bharat to contribute with bat–and on the field in the final test. India will look to win the fourth Test in Ahmedabad at any cost to confirm their place in the WTC finals.