KS Bharat Reminds Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma Of His Potential With Brilliant Century vs England Lions
Published - 20 Jan 2024, 06:47 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:25 AM
The wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat reminded the Indian team management of his potential before the five-match Test series against England at home. KS Bharat scored a hundred during the first unofficial Test match between India A and England Lions in Ahmedabad to help his side draw the match.
India A faced challenges against the England Lions in the first four-day match at Narendra Modi Stadium. The visiting team established a formidable target of 490 for the home side. India lost five wickets, accumulating 219 runs on the board during the fourth innings.
KS Bharat Smashes His 10th First-Class Hundred Against England Lions
KS Bharat delivered a composed and unbeaten century during the run chase. The Andhra wicketkeeper batter scored an unbeaten century off 116 runs from 165 deliveries, including 15 fours. He added a 207-run partnership with Manav Suthar for the sixth wicket.
England Lions posted a mammoth total of 553/8 after being asked to bat first. Keaton Jennings (154) and Josh Bohannon (125) hit centuries for the visiting team. Manav Suthar baffed four wickets, while Vidhwath Kaverappa took wickets and Navdeep Saini took one.
In response, India A was bowled out for just 227 runs, with Rajat Patidar (151) being the lone warrior. KS Bharat scored 15 runs off 13 deliveries before being dismissed. Matthew Potts and Matthew Fisher claimed four wickets each, while Callum Parkinson grabbed two.
KS Bharat Fails to Make an Impact with the Bat in International Cricket
Bharat made his Test debut against Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series last year. While he impressed with his wicketkeeping skills, he struggled to make an impact with the bat, scoring only 101 runs across the four Test matches in his debut series.
The 30-year-old has scored 129 runs in 8 innings at a disappointing average of 18.43, with a best score of 44 runs. He was dropped from the squad following the World Test Championship final (WTC) loss, and Ishan Kishan replaced him as the wicketkeeper-batter in the West Indies.
The Andhra batter was recalled to the Test squad for the recent South Africa Test series after Ishan Kishan opted out due to personal reasons. However, Bharat remained on the bench for the two Test matches as KL Rahul kept wickets and batted in the middle order.
Bharat retained his place in the squad for the first two Test matches against England in the upcoming series. Bharat will compete with uncapped Dhruv Jurel for the wicketkeeper role, as the team management can’t trust Rahul’s wicketkeeping skills on turning tracks.
The first Test match is set to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, starting on January 25. The second match will be played in Visakhapatnam from February 2 to 6.
India Squad for first 2 Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.
