G. Krishnan
Visakhapatnam, Feb 2:
As you commute from Visakhapatnam city along the beachside or through the city traffic and approach the Dr YSR ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium, the median is full of boards hailing local lad and Test wicketkeeper K.S. Bharat. The boards heap praise on the 30-year-old Bharat with words like ‘Welcome to pride of Andhra, K.S. Bharat’, ‘Welcome to Local Hero K.S. Bharat’, highlighting his achievement of being the first wicketkeeper in India to score a triple century in first-class cricket.
Bharat debuted for India in early 2022, playing in all the four Tests and as a result, was included in the playing 11 for the WTC Final against Australia in England. However, he was not the first-choice wicketkeeper for the Test tour of South Africa as K.L. Rahul donned the gloves. But, after the team management decided against giving Rahul the additional burden of wicketkeeping on the turning pitches for this series, Bharat was the first choice.
Though Bharat was still found wanting, letting away 10 byes in the second innings, he put up a decent show to the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Asked if he was comfortable behind the stumps on the challenging Indian pitches, having kept in five Tests in India, Bharat said here on the match eve on Thursday: “There is nothing like comfort when you play sport. You should never think that you are comfortable. Each ball is different and each ball is a new ball. For me, the key is to be in the present and take every ball as if you are getting a catch or be prepared for a stumping. For me, there is nothing called comfort. There is no complacent mind set. Every ball I value as if there is everything behind it. I like to keep it simple and enjoy keeping stumps for India.”
In the six Tests, Bharat has a total of 16 catches and one stumping, and is a decent bat. His scores of 41 and 28 in the first Test took his tally of runs to 198 at 22.00 average.
On how he felt going into a Test match at his home venue and the attention he was getting all around this Port City and also along the way to the Stadium, Bharat said: “There will be a lot of noise if you are playing for your country. There will be good noises and bad noises. But the thing is you’ll have to be in the present moment. For me it is a proud moment to be playing in front of your home ground. But if you look at the bigger picture, there is a Test match and my own focus, and our team’s focus, is on that. It is an overwhelming feeling but then you have to let it sink and focus on the Test match.”
He was felicitated by the local association on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, England named two changes on the eve of the Test, bringing in the veteran swing bowler James Anderson and rookie off-spinner Shoaib Bashir. Omitted from the 11 that won the first Test in Hyderabad go speedster Mark Wood and left-arm spinner Shoaib Bashir. England will have a variety in their spin attack, Bashir, who faced visa issues and had to return from his team’s training base in Abu Dhabi to England to collect his visa, as a result arriving in India halfway through the first Test, will be the second off-spinner along with Joe Root while they also have first Test hero, left-armer Tom Hartley and leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.
It is interesting to know that Anderson, who will be playing in his 184th Test on Friday, made his Test debut for England even before Ahmed and Bashir were even born.
