"The worst wicketkeeper to play for India" - Fans roast KS Bharat after he fails yet again with bat in 2nd IND vs ENG TestÂ
Team India wicketkeeper Kona Srikar Bharat found himself in the firing line from fans after his twin batting failures in the second Test against England in Vizag. He was under pressure to deliver coming into this Test, but things did not pan in the desired way for the Andhra Pradesh player.
After 17 (23) in the first innings, Bharat faltered again in the second innings on Sunday (February 4) as he got out cheaply for 6 (28). He walked in to bat at the end of the 56th over after Shubman Gill's dismissal. India desperately needed a decent partnership at that juncture to extend their lead to near 400.
KS Bharat played defensively for a while with Axar Patel before departing right after the Tea break. He mistimed a short delivery of leg spinner Rehan Ahmed, giving a simple catch to Ben Stokes. Bharat now has only 221 runs and a paltry average of 20.09 after playing seven Test matches for India, with 44 being his highest score.
Fans on social media were highly disappointed with Bharat for not making enough contribution with the bat and also committing errors with his glovework in the Vizag Test. They felt that he had received enough opportunities and urged the team management and selectors to look beyond him in Test cricket.
One fan trolled the keeper for his poor performances by writing on X:
"The worst wicketkeeper to play for India."
Here are some of the top reactions on X on the matter:
England need 332 runs to win 2nd Test against India with 2 days to go
Shubman Gill (104) hit a fine century on Day 3 to guide India to 255 in the second innings of the second Test against England. Axar Patel (45), Shreyas Iyer (29) and Ravichandran Ashwin (29) chipped in with mini contributions as India set a target of 399 for the English team.
The visitors then reached 67/1 in 14 overs before Stumps on Day 3. Zak Crawley (29*) and Rehan Ahmed (9*) remained unbeaten for England in the end. They still need 332 runs to win the match with nine wickets in hand.