'If They Had Played Ishan Kishan..': Saba Karim on Team India's Wicketkeeper Pick For WTC Final 2023

Team India captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid have a big call to make ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia. With KL Rahul out injured, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Ishan Kishan as Rahul’s replacement. Kishan is set to compete with KS Bharat for a place in the playing XI for the marquee clash which will take place in less than a week’s time.

The Indian team is set to lock horns with Australia in the WTC final 2023 at the Oval in London from June 7-11. While some players are guaranteed to start as they pick themselves in the ‘must have’ category, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja there are some places that will be hotly contested.

The wicketkeeper slot is one such position that has been a topic of widespread debate ahead of the WTC final. KS Bharat did keep the wickets for India during the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023, and according to former Indian wicketkeeper Saba Karim, Bharat is likely to get the nod ahead of Kishan who has yet to make his debut in red-ball cricket so far.

In an interview with the Times of India, Karim said, “I don’t think at this stage they will want to play Ishan Kishan. I think they will persist with KS Bharat since he has kept wickets for India in the home series. The kind of security Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma want to give the players, I think they will continue with Bharat.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator further added that if Kishan had played during the Border Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year then he might have had a chance to displace Bharat but it would be difficult to see the Jharkhand batter start ahead of Bharat in a match such as the WTC final.

“If they had played Ishan Kishan in the home series, I think he could have a chance. But since they haven’t done that, I don’t think they will take the chance in a crucial game like this and play him straight away.”

Kishan had been part of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but didn’t play any game, and while Bharat did play, his batting wasn’t too impressive as he could only muster up 101 runs across six innings at an average of 20.20. With Rahul not available, it will be interesting to see who gets the nod for duties behind the stumps.