Specialist Indian wicket-keeper KS Bharat is expected to take wicket-keeping duties against England in the five-match test series as KL Rahul is unlikely to be the Indian team’s first-choice wicket-keeper heading into the high-octane series on home soil.
KL Rahul, who found his Test form in South Africa, will play a different role in India’s forthcoming series against England. With slow-turning Indian wickets demanding special ability in wicket-keeping positions, the Indian team management wants Rahul to concentrate solely on his batting, relieving him of wicketkeeping responsibilities.
According to the reports in Indian Express, the team management informed the selection committee that KL Rahul had been asked to keep wickets in South Africa due to the pitch’s bounce and that KS Bharat could take his position back in the Indian team as they would once again prepare a turner for the visiting England squad during their five-game Test series at home.
“The Indian team will once again be playing on a turner track, and the team management felt that specialist spinners should handle the job at home. The team has many quality spinners, and the team won’t take any chances, especially when the pitch being offered will be a turner.”
Since the exit of stalwart Wriddhiman Saha from the Indian team, the Andhra-born wicketkeeper has been a member of the Indian squad as their backup wicketkeeper. Bharat made an eventful cameo with the gloves in the first Test against New Zealand in 2021.
KS Bharat made his Test debut in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 match, and he played five tests for India before being benched in the West Indies and South Africa series. KS Bharat has done an outstanding job as a wicketkeeper in Indian conditions. The 30-year-old has demonstrated speed and agility on difficult turns and might be key to the team’s success in the home test series.
The national selection committee has chosen four spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav, who will be seen in action throughout five matches. The Indian team management has planned to rotate their fast bowlers and has already informed that no fast bowlers will play all five Test matches, but would instead be rested according to workload management.
