"It's not that one guy is far better than the other" - Ravi Shastri offers his opinion on the Team India's wicketkeeper selection headache
Former Indian player and head coach Ravi Shastri spoke about the conundrum surrounding the wicketkeeper position in Team India's playing XI for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. With KL Rahul out of the picture due to injury, the selection is a straight shoot-out between KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan.
Bharat has been a reliable No.2 option for Team India ever since Wriddhiman Saha's phasing out from the squad. The Andhra-born wicketkeeper made his debut during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy recently and retained his place in the squad for the WTC Final as well.
Kishan, on the other hand, received his maiden red-ball call-up ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but did not get an opportunity to make his debut, with Bharat playing all four matches.
Opining that there is nothing much to separate between the two options, Shastri said on the latest edition of the ICC Review:
"See, that's another tight one (decision). Now, if two spinners are playing, then you would want Bharat to play. You have to see who's a better keeper. Is it Bharat or Ishan Kishan? Now, the fact that Bharat was given a run against Australia, where he played all the Test matches, I think he would be the obvious choice to go with.”
He continued:
"There's not much there. It's not that one guy is far better than the other. "Batting will also come into play, whether you want Ishan Kishan's batting to shore up the middle order. That's another thing you'll take into perspective."
“Are you going to go with four fast bowlers? Then there's not much spin and you just need someone decent behind the stumps to do the job."
Shastri's predicted XI for the WTC final featured two spinners, with him nominating KS Bharat as the wicketkeeper. Bharat has scored 101 runs across six innings so far and was influential with his ability behind the stumps on tough rank turners as well.
"I think Bharat will be a pretty straightforward choice" - Dinesh Karthik on Team India's wicket-keeper for WTC Final
Fellow wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik feels that KS Bharat is the obvious choice among the two candidates.
The veteran player firmly believes that Ishan Kishan should not be put under the spotlight keeping the gravity of the contest in mind.
He said on ICC Review:
"I think Bharat will be a pretty straightforward choice because playing Ishan Kishan in his debut and a Test match straight in the World Test Championship Final is asking a bit too much.”
He continued:
"And the fact that KS Bharat probably tips the scale in favour of himself just a little bit with this keeping edge that he has got. So I do think they will go in with KS Bharat for the final."
Team India will face Australia for the coveted World Test Championship title from June 7 onwards at The Oval in London.