Drop KS Bharat for WTC Final, says Gavaskar

The recent win by New Zealand against Sri Lanka in a last-ball thriller in Christchurch has had a far-reaching impact on the World Test Championship.

The result knocked Sri Lanka out of the race and guaranteed India a spot in the final, which is slated to be played at the Oval in England on June 7 against Australia.

With two months of IPL in between, the question on everyone’s mind is how India will prepare for the WTC final and what the team will look like.

Two of India’s star players, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, have been out with injuries for a long time, and there is no confirmation of their possible return to cricket anytime soon.

Bumrah’s absence during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy did not hurt India that much as the spinners did the bulk of the bowling.

However, in English conditions, it will be difficult to fill his void.

The same is true for Pant, who was missed both as a batter and keeper during the four Tests against Australia.

KS Bharat failed to impress with the bat, and his keeping did not ooze confidence in front of the turning ball.

In the WTC final, the pitch is unlikely to favor the spinners, but that will bring the focus back on Bharat’s batting.

Pant has been one of India’s most reliable batters in Test cricket in overseas conditions and scored his maiden hundred at the same venue during the England tour in 2018.

Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that KL Rahul should be considered as a keeper-batter for the WTC final purely because of his batting abilities.

“You can see KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper. If he bats at No.5 or 6 at the Oval (in the WTC final), then our batting will be stronger.”

“Because he batted really well in England last year. He scored a century at Lord’s. Keep KL Rahul in mind when you pick your XI for the WTC final.” Gavaskar said.

Despite being stripped of his vice-captaincy and dropped from the XI after the first two Tests of the Australia series, Rahul is India’s first-choice keeper in ODIs and has a proven track record in English conditions.

In fact, it was his performance the last time India toured England that helped him regain his spot back in the Test side.

Highlighting Dinesh Karthik’s comments on Bharat’s issues as a keeper, Gavaskar said picking Rahul for just that one Test will give more depth to the Indian batting unit.

“Dinesh Karthik summed up the problems with his wicketkeeping quite beautifully (during commentary).”

“The real test of a wicketkeeper is on pitches like these where the ball is turning. If you look at Travis Head’s dismissal, when the ball turned and hit his stumps, KS Bharat’s gloves were nowhere near the ball.”

“That means, if the ball hadn’t hit the stumps, it would have resulted in 4 byes. This is definitely a cause for concern.”

“Whether they will select him in the XI or not is up to the selection committee, but in England, you won’t get pitches where the keeper has to stand up to the stumps.”

“In that case, you can pick KL Rahul as a wicketkeeper, and even Ishan Kishan can be considered. Their batting is better than Bharat’s.” he added.