Former BCCI selector MSK Prasad believes young Indian wicket-keeper KS Bharat will be the obvious choice for the Men in Blue if the team management is looking for a genuine wicket-keeper batter in the World Test Championship final against Australia in the Oval starting on June 7.
The 29-year-old made his test debut against Australia in BGT 2023. KS Bharat played four test matches as a wicketkeeper for India and scored 101 runs in the four matches in the absence of Rishabh Pant who met with a tragic accident last December ruling him out of cricket for an indefinite period.
It will be interesting to see the playing XI with which Team India will go for the WTC Final 2023 at Oval against the Aussies (IND vs AUS), surely there will be some changes from the last test match played at Ahmedabad, as both the surface are different. Speaking to India Today, MSK Prasad revealed his choice of wicket-keeper for the high-octane clash.
“See, again, what kind of conditions and what kind of pitch, all those things matter a lot in deciding the combination. If you are going for a genuine wicketkeeper, KS Bharat is an automatic choice. It will also depend on what kind of combination the team needs. If you are going for a genuine wicketkeeper, then obviously KS Bharat is the choice,” MSK Prasad said.
Many former Cricketers including Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri wanted KL Rahul to play in the middle order taking up the wicket-keeper job, as he has performed very well in England condition and has scored a century in Lord’s against England. While the right-handed batter was dropped from India’s side in BGT 2023 for the third test in favour of in-form Shubman Gill.
None Of Our Batters Usually Sweep Against Spin – MSK Prasad
MSK Prasad feels the Indian team desperately went with Suryakumar Yadav in BGT 2023 as a horse for courses for his ability to play spin well in the absence of their star performers Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.
“I think he was picked because he can play spinners well here. None of our batters usually sweep against spin. Probably, at that time, selectors would have thought of horses for courses. No one in the country was doing that well in the middle order. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer’s absence were also a factor,” MSK Prasad added.
Ajinkya Rahane made a comeback into the squad following his brilliant performance in the Indian Premier League 2023 and from the BGT 2023, India has dropped Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan from the side. India will look to put up a better show against Australia in their second consecutive WTC Final in England.