After a long time, India is playing a five-match Test series on home soil. In the first Test match, India faced a 28-run defeat. In the next match, Team India bounced back. In the second Test match, Team India defeated England by 106 runs. In both matches, KS Bharat is playing the role of wicketkeeper instead of KL Rahul. Rahul is playing just as a middle-order batter. But in both Tests, Bharat struggled with the bat. After that, he was getting criticized for his form. At that time, veteran Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle backed the wicketkeeper batter of India.
KS Bharat’s Struggle with Bat:
Before heading to the Test series, Indian coach Rahul Dravid talked about the role of KL Rahul. He addressed that KS Bharat will be behind the wickets in this series and KL Rahul will be playing as a middle-order batter. Following this, Bharat was named in the playing XI of both Test matches.
In the first Test, Indian batters faced difficulties playing in front of English bowlers. On the Hyderabad pitch, KS Bharat scored 41 runs in 81 balls with a strike rate of 50.62. In the second innings, his struggle continued. Bharat played a knock of 28 runs in 59 balls.
In the second Test, India won the match by 106 runs. But KS Bharat got dismissed early again. In the first innings, he scored only 17 runs in 23 balls. In the second innings, he was dismissed by Rehan Ahmed after scoring 6 runs in 28 balls. After those knocks, he was criticized for his off-form.
Bhogle Got Bharat’s Back:
KS Bharat is a responsible wicketkeeper-batter. Currently, he is dealing with an off-form. After the player received immense criticism, Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle backed him. He said, “I worry when reports on this series casually mention that KS Bharat hasn’t done well enough. Yes, he hasn’t delivered the runs with the bat but his keeping has been top class. While a keeper must deliver with two skills, we tend to measure his performance almost entirely by one metric which is unfair. An excellent catch could contribute 30+ runs.”
On February 15, India and England will meet again for the third Test match in Rajkot. After the first two matches, the series stands on a 1-1 margin. Both teams are trying hard to win the series. KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja hope to be back in the team before the third Test match. On the other hand, Virat Kohli missed the first two matches. His comeback in the rest of the series is still uncertain.
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