Former England skipper Nasser Hussain hailed the Indian wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat for being more proactive in the field as he convinced the former Indian skipper Virat Kohli over the decision of DRS calls. The Indian youngster was one of the bright spots for the Indian team on a tough day as he kept very well in the England conditions.
Indian wicket-keeper KS Bharat was picked over the southpaw Ishan Kishan for the gloveman spot for the finals against Australia to give him continuity in the Indian team following the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023, as he took two sharp catches in the game and also convinced the captain and seniors about few close DRS calls.
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain praised KS Bharat for being strong on his decisions about the DRS calls as it is not easy not to convince seniors like Virat Kohli in the slips. The former Indian skipper wanted to take DRS when Steve Smith tried to pull a shot of Mohammed Shami, as the noise was heard during the ball passed on the bat, where Bharat refused to go for the DRS, which at last was the right decision made.
“He was very tough with Virat Kohli. Not easy to overrule Kohli but that’s exactly what he did. Kohli wanted to review that but Bharat, playing in his 5th Test match, had to run to King Kohli and say ‘Nope, you got that wrong’ Brave man, but right,” Nasser Hussain said.
Ravi Shastri, who was seen alongside Nasser Hussain heaped praise on Bharat for his courage to convince a player of Virat Kohli’s calibre to opt against the review.
“Yes, these batsmen, and the competition. If it was anybody else, he would have been half as expressive. Pujara of all people had to say, ‘Virat, calm down. calm down,” Ravi Shastri said.
Australian batters were impressive on Day 1, when asked to bat first in tough conditions, despite losing Usman Khawaja early in the innings, with David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne batted in the tough early conditions, to give the Australian side real chance to score big runs in the first innings.
The Australian middle order batters Steve Smith and Travis Head batted brilliantly through session 2 and session 3 to put the Australian side in very good position 327-3 at the end of Day 1 and will look to continue their fine batting going into Day 2.