India wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan will miss the Test series against South Africa due to personal reasons. The BCCI didn’t mention the exact reason for Ishan’s release. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named KS Bharat as his replacement. Ishan hasn’t featured for the Indian team since the conclusion of the ODI World Cup 2023, where India were beaten by Australia in the final.
KS Bharat last featured for India in a Test back in June this year when the national team took on Australia in a Test series. Bharat had only made his Test debut for India in February this year, that too against Australia. Bharat wasn’t the BCCI’s plans for the Test assignment against South Africa but had to be brought in after Ishan’s request.
In a release, the BCCI said: “Mr Ishan Kishan has requested the BCCI to be released from the upcoming Test series against South Africa citing personal reasons. The wicket-keeper has subsequently been withdrawn from the Test squad.
The Men’s Selection Committee has named Mr KS Bharat as a replacement.”
Bharat might not be the first-choice wicket-keeper for India in the Test series against South Africa, with reports emerging that KL Rahul could be tried for the spot behind the stumps. Rahul has proved to be a handy option behind the stumps both in T20Is and ODIs.
With Rishabh Pant still far from making a comeback, odds favour Rahul to be tried as a wicket-keeper across three formats. However, wicket-keeping in Tests remains a much difficult task, in comparison to ODIs and T20Is. It would be interesting to see how the BCCI decides to manage Rahul’s workload if he is made a full-time wicket-keeper in all three formats.
India’s squad for Tests:Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)
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