IND vs ENG: Why KS Bharat fits the bill as wicketkeeper for England Test series at home

In 2019, more than a year after Rishabh Pant made his debut, as South Africa came visiting, India sprung a surprise. At Visakhapatnam, they drafted in another wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha ahead of Pant. Saha hadn’t played a Test for 20 months. On turning pitches, where the ball can do all sorts of tricks, they valued the primary skills of Saha over what Pant offered with the bat. With their spinners capable of creating plenty of chances they didn’t want any of them to go begging.

And five years later, despite a new team management and captain in place, in the pearl city of Hyderabad, India are fully valuing the gem of a wicketkeeper they have in KS Bharat.

Not even the presence of a brittle middle-order in the absence of Virat Kohli for the first two Tests against England is making Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid go with KL Rahul as a fill-in and rope in an extra batsman in Rajat Patidar or Rinku Singh.

Even when Kohli was around, the form of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer would have tempted the team management to look at the possibility of handing the keeping gloves to Rahul. After establishing himself as their No.1 keeper in ODIs, Rahul had done nothing wrong in the two Tests he kept in South Africa.

But the question was whether he could keep wickets in Indian conditions, especially when fronting up to the spinners on pitches where even the world’s best batsmen struggle. Bharat didn’t do anything substantial with the bat during the last home series against Australia. That the selectors even drafted in uncapped Dhruv Jurel, showed Bharat’s spot in the XI wasn’t sealed.

But two days ahead of the first Test, head coach Rahul Dravid asserted that Rahul will not be considered as a wicketkeeper. “(KL) Rahul will not be playing as a wicketkeeper in this series, and we are clear about that in the selection itself. We have picked two other wicketkeepers, and obviously, Rahul did a fantastic job for us in South Africa and really played a big part in helping us draw the series. But considering five Test matches and playing in these conditions, the selection will be between the two other keepers we have,” Dravid said in Hyderabad.

It is a move that shows not just the nature of surfaces that will be rolled out during the series, but one that once again highlights why a specialist keeper is non-negotiable in these parts. It is the reason why even England are inclined more towards placing Ben Foakes – arguably the best wicketkeeper around the globe – ahead of Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps.

“Sub continent conditions are most difficult for wicketkeepers. It is challenging because you need extremely good hand-eye coordination and reflexes. It is a test of your concentration, character because you can’t really predict the path of the ball at all times and the overhead conditions can also be harsh. It can be quite intimidating to keep in the subcontinent. There will be inside edges and outside edges and the ball will keep low with the odd one jumping off. So these things have to be factored before you pick your keeper,” R Sridhar, India’s fielding coach between 2014-2021 tells The Indian Express.

These wicketkeeping challenges are also what made India to fall back on Saha for the Tests against South Africa in 2019. Though Pant was a better package, Saha’s skills behind the stumps is what the conditions demanded and despite Rahul’s exceptional glovework in whiteball, Sridhar says having a specialist in Tests is always preferable.

“Red ball is a totally different ball game altogether. You need to be technically more correct and your basics have to be good. And your weight distribution has to be perfect and footwork and glovework have to be spot on. Good footwork will lead to good glovework. So all that is non-negotiable, especially on Day 3, 4 and 5 with R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel operating. It is a test of character. Against Australia, Bharat did a reasonably good work, barring the final Test,” Sridhar adds.

According to Sridhar, there is another big responsibility for wicketkeepers in these conditions.

With DRS in play, the keeper becomes all the more vital in terms of providing tactical inputs. And then there is the need to forge a partnership with spinners, establishing constant communication in terms of what the batsmen are upto. Having kept wickets in the Australia series, Bharat is also familiar with what to expect from the spin trio and Sridhar says Bharat’s agility has to be factored in.

“Bharat has excellent hands. He can stay low… he is more agile and has got fast hands. His glovework is effortless. With the exception of maybe Rajkot, we would be playing on black soil pitches, and on such surfaces you need to stay low, move well on the leg-side. And while doing all of it, you need to have a safe pair of hands. And Bharat has got those,” Sridhar says.

India’s team management is also buoyed by the fact that Bharat, after being dropped from the Test team, went back to domestic cricket and worked on the batting aspect.

Against Australia and in the World Test Championship final, his batting didn’t look the part especially against pacers and even Nathan Lyon troubled him on a few occasions. And after working on his batting, Bharat comes to Hyderabad with scores of 64, 15, 116 not out for India ‘A’ against England Lions in Ahmedabad last week. With Jurel waiting in the wings, the pressure would definitely be on Bharat, a good start could do him a world of good.

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