Team India’s batting performance in the Border Gavaskar Trophy has not been up to the mark which has raised a lot of questions for the host. Except for Rohit Sharma’s century in the first game and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 59 off 142 balls on the rank turner in Indore, our top and middle order has struggled against Aussies spinners in the whole series.
To strengthen the batting order, Rahul Dravid and co. replaced out-of-form KL Rahul with inform Shubman Gill for the third test, but this trick didn’t seem to work India’s way.
From the practice session it looks like India may come up with a different playing XI on Thursday (March 9). Indian reserve wicketkeeper for the series Ishan Kishan was seen in two different net sessions during the practice ahead of the 4th Test against Australia. Whereas, KS Bharat, who made his debut in the Border Gavaskar Trophy was missing from the practice.
Talking about the left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman, Indian captain Rohit Sharma said, “When we knew that Rishabh Pant is not going to be available for us, that was one of the reasons we got Ishan (Kishan) in. He’s a left-hander, can play attacking cricket”.
Although, Indian Head coach's statement indicates otherwise, in a recent talk Rahul Dravid was seen backing KS Bharat by talking about his 17 run knock in the last test and 22 not out in Delhi.
"Even though it's not a big contribution, he got 17 in the first innings. Got a nice contribution in Delhi where he played positively, and you need a little bit of luck in these conditions and he hasn't probably had that, and he is shaping really well and keeping really nicely for us. So we need to put batting performance in perspective," Dravid said.
Does that mean Ishan Kishan has to wait for his test debut? or KS Bharat will get a chance in the future and Rohit Sharma will consider Ishan Kishan on a batting-friendly Motera pitch? Only Thursday morning will give a clear picture to these questions.
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