India legend chooses between KL Rahul and KS Bharat for WTC Final© BCCI
Former Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri backed KL Rahul to play in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia in place of KS Bharat. Rahul had a disappointing run in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was replaced by Shubman Gill but the right-hander slammed a brilliant fifty in the first ODI encounter against Australia in Mumbai. On the other hand, KS Bharat was given a chance to play in all four Test matches in the series but he failed to score big and was also criticised by experts and fans alike for missing some chances behind the wicket.
Shastri said that Rahul will provide a solidity to the Indian middle-order and in a venue like the Oval, it will not be very difficult for him to keep wickets against the spinners. For Bharat, Shastri believed that he will get more chances but did not pick him to play in the WTC Final in June.
“KL Rahul should be keeping. Clear-cut. You don’t have to keep much to the spinners. At No. 5 or 6, he can strengthen the batting and can keep wicket too. Of course, he can also keep in Tests because you have to see the all-round strength. It’s not like the keeper that we have right now is so good that he can’t be dropped. He is also a newcomer, KS Bharat, and he will learn with exposure, but for this one-off big game, you have to weigh all the options,” Shastri told reporters during LLC in Doha.
Earlier, Former India selector Saba Karim weighed in on the topic and said that it is possible that the national team will stick with Bharat as the specialist wicket-keeper batsman.
“Eventually, that is up to the team management. But I feel the way the Indian team management in the recent past has dealt with youngsters, they have offered them a lot of security. They have created a conducive environment for them to grow. And they have not been very harsh in terms of performances, because they believe that they have invested heavily in a youngster, who has come to this stage and made a debut in a Test match,” Karim said in an interaction organised by JioCinema.
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