KS Bharat: KS Bharat is set to be out of India’s Test team for West Indies tour!

Team India lost their second consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Oval in London last week. With this, India’s dream of winning the ICC trophy was shattered again. After this defeat, questions are also being raised regarding the selection of many players in the team. The Indian batsmen failed to live up to the bat in both the innings of the final and eventually lost the Test comprehensively by 209 runs. Now with Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav in doubt over selection for the West Indies Tests, the news is that wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat has been dropped.

 

The Andhra Pradesh cricketer has been selected in the South Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy starting June 28. South Zone had made it to the finals of the tournament last year along with West Zone and hence, both the teams qualified directly for the semi-finals this time. Going by this format, the Duleep Trophy semi-finals will start around June 4 or 5 and the contest will end on June 7 or 8. The first Test of the two-match Test series between India and West Indies will begin on July 12 in Dominica. Team India may leave for the Caribbean at least a week before the start of the Test series and this clearly suggests that KS Bharath is certain to be out of the team.

Bharat hasn’t contributed much with the bat in the five Tests he has played for India so far. Bharat has scored only 129 runs at an average of 18.42, with no half-centuries or hundreds to his name. However, handled the wicketkeeping duties brilliantly and impressed in the WTC final as well. But gone are the days when wicketkeeping was a specialist role. Things may become even more clear when the selection committee meets soon to pick the Test squad for the upcoming West Indies tour. Apart from two Tests, Team India also has to play three ODIs and five T20 matches against the West Indies.