Former Team India player Aakash Chopra says he would prefer to have KS Bharat rather than Ishan Kishan as batsman-wicketkeeper for the upcoming four-match home Test series against Australia. Chopra said Bharat can move the score with the bat and handle the bowling of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja as wicketkeeper on Indian pitches.
With India’s first Test against Australia starting on February 9 in Nagpur, Bharat and Ishan are the ground-keeping options in the Rohit Sharma-led side as first-choice batsman and goalkeeper Rishabh Pant was injured in a horrible car accident on December 30. . Bharat has made regular appearances for India A and averages 47.95 in first-class matches. He was Pant’s longtime backup on the test team. When Wriddhiman Saha failed to keep due to a stiff neck during India’s first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur in November 2022, he too impressed with his wicket-keeping skills.
Ishan, on the other hand, received his first call-up to the test team after being on the cue ball team for a while and is seen as an equal replacement for Pant. He said: “It is really unfortunate that Rishabh Pant is not available to us at the moment. He is the type of player who can play in all formats. I think we will look at different players differently. I would say both KS Bharat and Ishaan Kishan they are contenders for Test cricket”.
“If you need a better goalkeeper than KS Bharat, but if you need an explosive left-footed batsman, as we don’t have a lefty in the top order, then I would say we can say Ishan Kishan. Personally, Bharat will be my priority as he can keep the score in movement in the Tests and we need someone who can handle Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja behind the wicket.”
When asked about picking a wicket-keeper for India in white-ball cricket, Chopra said, “In T20, it will be a toss between Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson and in ODI, KL Rahul will be there, no doubt.” Is.”