“Pick KS Bharat just on the basis of the red-ball plan” – Deep Dasgupta addresses India’s wicketkeeping dilemma for Australia series

KS Bharat always tends to slip under the radar. He has previously been in the shadows of Wriddhiman Saha. Then, Rishabh Pant. And now that he is closest to realising the longstanding dream, Ishan Kishan’s unexpected inclusion in the Test squad has garnered maximum attention.

With rank turners most likely awaiting India and Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, experts have been exhorting that the hosts hand a debut to the ‘better wicketkeeper’ Bharat. Another school of thought, though, has labelled Kishan as a like-for-like replacement for the injured Pant.

Former India keeper-bat Deep Dasgupta opined that Ishan Kishan is not far behind when it comes to glovework. Congruently, he shed light on Bharat’s decent batting numbers in first-class cricket.

“I am looking at it from a different angle. I don’t think there’s too much of a difference. Ishan is not a bad keeper, he’s got good hands. And KS Bharat also can bat. People are saying, ‘If you want more batting, pick Ishan; if you want keeping, pick KS.’ I think that’s a little unfair. There’s nothing much to choose between them,” Dasgupta said in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.

Across the past four Ranji Trophy seasons, there’s nothing much to separate the two in terms of batting as well. While Kishan has scored 615 runs in 18 innings at an average of 34.16, Bharat’s tally of 910 runs came at 32.5 from 28 innings.

However, Dasgupta wants KS Bharat to play the first Test starting tomorrow. The cricketer-turned-broadcaster reasoned that the 29-year-old has been groomed as India’s back-up stumper and he should get his due.

“I would pick KS Bharat just on the basis of what the red-ball plan has been. According to the plans, you had thought of Rishabh Pant, who has been a huge, huge miss. And you had KS Bharat as his deputy. And I don’t think anything drastic has happened in the last one year for you to change that. At least to start with, yes KS Bharat, unless you think of something else after the first Test match. Because, that’s the reason you had also told Wriddhiman whatever,” Deep Dasgupta, who is a commentator for the four-Test series, elaborated.

Going purely by numbers, Ishan Kishan has a better first-class record with the gloves than his senior pro. The 23 year-old averages 2.29 dismissals per match as compared to Bharat’s 1.15. The former Bengal captain, though, dismissed it as an unfair assessment.

“That’s not a fair way of looking at it. It boils down to the bowlers, conditions and all that as well. For me, it is more a test of eye, and what I’ve seen of Ishan, he’s a fairly good keeper. Nothing that tells me that he’s not good enough to keep in a Test match,” Deep Dasgupta remarked.

One area where Bharat definitely scores over Kishan is match practice. While the Jharkhand lad kept wickets in the recent white-ball series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the last time he donned the gloves in first-class cricket was way back in December 2021, against South Africa A. And for his state side, it dates further back to February 2020.

“Technique is one thing, the other is temperament. Like you mentioned, the last time Ishan kept in a red-ball game was December 2021. So it’s been quite a while that he hasn’t kept. So that can’t be easy; you can’t just straightaway come and start keeping that way. You might be technically strong, but you need to have that habit of keeping over after over. And it’s going to be extremely challenging, if there are three spinners and the pitch is whatever we hear it is,” Dasgupta reasoned.

Further, Ishan Kishan’s recent struggles against spin will be exposed in a series touted to be dominated by the tweakers. In his last six T20I innings, the southpaw has fallen prey to spin on three occasions. Moreover, star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s comeback will mean India won’t be bereft of a left-hander in the middle.

“If Jadeja hadn’t been available, then you could’ve thought of batting and getting a left-hander in there. And also if you look at Ishan the batter in the last 10 odd innings, especially against spin, it’s not that he’s looked very comfortable and scored a lot of runs. If I am there in that dressing room, my thought process is pretty clear. It’ll be kind of a knee-jerk reaction – what sign are you sending to everyone else? You’ve put a plan in place, you’ve worked on it and suddenly you’re like, ‘I am not happy with that,’” Deep Dasgupta explained.

The next three Test matches will be played in Delhi (February 17-21), Dharamsala (March 1-5) and Ahmedabad (March 9-13). India need to win the series by a two-Test margin to set up a World Test Championship (WTC) final date with the Aussies in June at the Oval.

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“Playing XI is quite straightforward” – Deep Dasgupta

Shubman Gill might have to bat out of his position in the middle order [Credits: BCCI]

In the build-up to the opener, dynamic batter Suryakumar Yadav’s potential Test debut also created quite a flutter. The 32-year-old’s two Ranji Trophy games for Mumbai this season came after a gap of three years. But his ability to unleash sweep shots is being thought of as an antidote to Australia’s spin threat.

Most new-age Test sides have an attacker in the middle – Jonny Bairstow (England), Travis Head (Australia), to name a few. If KS Bharat, who is an orthodox batter, plays as the wicketkeeper, can Surya be included to balance it out?

“No I don’t think you have to complicate it that much. The playing XI is quite straightforward. The only question is, who’s going to keep wickets. And the bowling combination – if you’re going to go with three spinners or no. I don’t see any other issue per say. Maybe another area of discussion could be where do KL Rahul and Shubman Gill bat – both of them can open and also bat at No. 5,” Deep Dasgupta told Sportskeeda.

Shreyas Iyer getting ruled out with a back injury means India have two vital slots to fill up in the middle order.

Deep Dasgupta’s India playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj

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