Not disappointed with KS Bharat - Rahul Dravid on wicketkeeper despite awful Test form

India National Cricket Team head coach Rahul Dravid gave his clear verdict on the poor form of the wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat in Test cricket after the second match of the five-match series against England National Cricket Team.

India and England locked horns with each other in the second Test at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. The Rohit Sharma side managed to win the match by 106 runs and the heroes of the win were Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill.

Jaiswal slammed a magnificent double century in the first innings to help India post a huge total on the board while Shubman Gill smashed a brilliant ton in the second innings to help India post a big target for the English team. The premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, was exceptional with the ball in both innings and he destroyed England with his skills.

In the first innings, Jasprit Bumrah delivered a stupendous spell and bagged 6 wickets while he picked up 3 wickets in the second innings to bag the Player of the Match award.

On one hand, the likes of Bumrah, Gill, and Jaiswal impressed with their performances, on the other hand, the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma, and KS Bharat continued to disappoint. Bharat, especially, faced heavy backlash on social for not playing well with the bat since his India debut.

Notably, Bharat has batted in 12 Test innings for India National Cricket Team and he has scored just 221 runs at an average of 20.09. He is yet to hit a half-century in Test cricket with his best score being 44.

Disappointed is a strong word. I would not use the word disappointed – Rahul Dravid on KS Bharat

Despite KS Bharat clearly struggling to deliver with the bat, India head coach Rahul Dravid has come out in the wicketkeeper-batsman’s defense. Dravid said that he is not disappointed with the performance of the 30-year-old gloveman.

“Disappointed is a strong word. I would not use the word disappointed, to be honest. Young players need time to develop. They are growing at their own pace. As a coach, you want young players who come into the side to grab the opportunities and perform,” Dravid said in the post-match press conference.

Rahul Dravid added that Bharat has done a good job behind the stumps for India, but admitted that there is room for improvement when it comes to batting.

“His keeping, to be honest in both the Tests, has been really good. With his batting, I am sure he will agree he could certainly have done better. Sometimes, he has played on some different tracks. He has had the opportunity to make better contributions,” he stated.

“He has had the opportunity to make a little bit better contributions. Certainly, batting is an area that he has done really well. He has gotten to this level because he has scored hundreds, even at the A level. He came into the series with a hundred against the Lions (England Lions). He has come in with some form, but somehow it hasn’t really worked for him in these couple of games,” Dravid added.

It will be interesting to see whether or not KS Bharat will be retained for the next Test match against England as India have a young wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel on the bench. The third Test is scheduled to be played from February 15 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.