Image Credit- ANI
Imagine the worst situation. India visited South
Africa just a month ago. They were aware that they required more batting depth.
However, much like at home, the conditions in Centurion and Cape Town were set
up to make their spinners useless, so they were unable to rely on them. They
were forced to give up one of them in order to add a fast bowler. They took a
chance with the wicketkeeper’s position to deal with that defeat. The better
hitter who was on offer received the “u up?” text.
Their demands have changed a little now that India is
back in more comfortable settings and that R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja can be
relied upon to take wickets and score runs. Someone else is probably going to
receive the “u up” text.
Does that imply that KL Rahul’s position is in
jeopardy? Yes. Sort of, anyway.
Of his 92 first-class matches, Rahul has only been
named the wicketkeeper three times, and none of those matches were played in
India.
This takes us to KS Bharat, who filled in for Rishabh
Pant as an understudy and stepped up when the latter became wounded. In 91
first-class matches—82 of which took place in India—Bharat has been the
assigned wicketkeeper. He has amassed 287 catches and 33 stumpings in those
games. India would view those figures as more important for their current goals
than the runs he scores, which haven’t been many lately.
Earlier this month, in a two-day tour match in
Ahmedabad against the England Lions, Bharat did manage to score fifty-six runs.
In the subsequent unofficial Test, they managed to reach 116 runs without
conceding an innings. There may only be room for one position for two really
talented batsmen if India believes he is their best choice behind the stumps to
handle the variances in bounce and spin that are typical of their home
conditions. One of their best centuries ever was scored just a few weeks ago in
harsh conditions during his 10-month hiatus from Test cricket. And the man who
is their greatest spin player.
A wicketkeeper is more than the total of their
catches, stumpings, and runs scored. For the bowler, they are invaluable
sources of information.
There isn’t always a correct answer to problems like
this one since they are textbook problems of plenty with a dash of horses for
courses thrown in. So let’s just examine prior cases. India, who prefer to have
the best keeper at home and the better batter away, went with Saha at home and
Pant away for a considerable amount of the match. That could be the situation
in Hyderabad on Thursday once more.