Sanjay Manjrekar slams KS Bharat, says India should look for other option

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar shared his opinion on whether KS Bharat should retain his place in the team or not. He believes that India should look for some other option before Rishabh Pant comes in and takes his place.

KS Bharat hasn’t been able to lock his spot in the Indian team in Test cricket. The keeper-batter has bagged failures in almost every game he has played and there are questions about his place in the team as well.

KS Bharat is currently part of the Indian team for the Test series against England. He, however, hasn’t been able to get going and has bagged failures in all the innings that he has played. Ahead of the series, he looked in good touch as he slammed a ton in the A series.

But he failed to replicate the form and couldn’t handle the pressure at international level. KS Bharat bagging continuous failures have seen him receiving a lot of criticism, especially with Dhruv Jurel and other young players in the ranks.

KS Bharat was dropped from the Indian team and didn’t feature in the South Africa series. However, with Ishan Kishan pulling out of the England series and KL Rahul not ready to keep wickers, Bharat got a call-up again.

It was a perfect opportunity for him to seal his place in the team. But he flattered that and couldn’t play a big knock which was expected of him. He had a few starts but he failed to convert them and bagged low scores.

Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out that KS Bharat isn’t a new player and has played a few big games as well. He wasn’t sure if India was doing the right thing in investing in him after his poor show with the bat. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he explained:

“It’s not like that he is playing his first series. He has played before, played all four games against Australia. Rishabh Pant is due to come anytime soon. I’m not sure if it is worth in investing KS Bharat because he isn’t also 20-year-old. India had moved on from KS Bharat.“

I personally would prefer will look at another option – Sanjay Manjrekar on KS Bharat

Sanjay Manjrekar further noted that team management under Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma believes that the team gives a longer run to players. Therefore he believes that KS Bharat might keep his place. He however said that the team should look for other options.

“Maybe he is just enough to keep his side in the team and team management believes in being fair to every player. I personally would prefer will look at another option before Rishabh Pant comes in and takes his place.”

With poor outings with the bat in two games, it remains to be seen if KS Bharat will be named in the squad for the three games or not. Also, Rishabh Pant will be making a comeback in the IPL and after that he no doubt will take the place in the Test team.