Former India selector Sarandeep Singh says choosing KS Bharat over Ishan Kishan as wicket-keeper for the World Test Championship final against Australia is a good idea and he would also choose Umesh Yadav over Shardul Thakur in the playing eleven. In the absence of the injured Rishabh Pant, Kishan, who has yet to play Test cricket, can provide the x-factor, but Sarandeep senses Bharat coming into the eleven as the front-line wicket-keeper. “KS Bharat for sure. He’s a real wicket-keeper for Test matches and we saw him continue to be excellent at home against Australia. He’s been around for a while and he should be given the chance,” Sarandeep told PTI on Wednesday.
The WTC final will be played at the Oval in London from June 7. The former India spinner said Kishan’s time will come.
“Ishan is an opener. I’m not saying he isn’t able to play Tests. He’s one for the future, but he opens in limited overs cricket. Things will be different at number six.
“Yes, he goes hard from the first ball, which can be counterproductive in England, but Bharat is also good at hitting and shooting,” he reasoned.
‘Umesh’s extra pace and old ball skills come in handy’
Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, who breathed fire during the recently concluded IPL, will share the workload in the pace department and the Indian team will have to choose between Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur as the third fast bowling option.
“I choose Umesh for Shardul because he has that extra pace and can turn the old ball around, he can be very helpful on that oval track,” said Sarandeep.
“All of India’s batters are in good form going into the one-off game and that bodes well for the team,” he said.
“I don’t see any concerns about batting or bowling in the final. They’re all in shape.
“Yes, conditions will be challenging in England as always and they will switch to test mode from T20s. The weather may change from day to day and India will have to adapt.
“Competing bowlers like Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood is a huge challenge, but we have a world-class batting attack.
“Shubman is the only one who hasn’t played much in England, but he’s in the shape of his life and should be doing great things there,” said the 43-year-old, who was part of the selection committee when India won the title. historical series in Australia in 2021.
‘Australian pacers don’t swing the ball that much’
Australian pacers are used to bowling hard lengths and don’t swing the ball as often as the Indian quicks or the English and Sarandeep think that will work in India’s favour.
“The ball has to swing first. Most Aussie pacers, their strength is to hit the length hard. They’re not the ones who swing the ball a lot.”
ICC trophy drought should end with WTC victory
India has not won an ICC trophy since 2013, despite being touted as a favorite in the world events.
Sarandeep said the grand finals are all about dealing with pressure and hopes India will not have a bad day like last year at the T20 World Cup or the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.
“If you see that even in the 2019 World Cup we won the most games and were favorites in the semi-finals and it’s raining, the game is pushed to reserve day and we lost the game.
“If you talk about the last two years, yes, we lost massively to Pakistan and England, but things will change (in WTC),” he added.
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