Proud Bharat focused on the job

Visakhapatnam: It’s always a feeling of pride, especially for tier two cities or non traditional Test centres, when one of their own plays a Test match at a place where it all began. Several banners hailing KS Bharat, the Indian team’s wicketkeeper, don the highway en route the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA Stadium here.

“Pride of Andhra” says one with another reading “Andhra’s Pride”, both with Visakhapatnam’s Bharat smiling from ear to ear. A third points out Bharat’s unique feat of being India’s only wicketkeeper to score a First-Class triple century, the knock of 308 he made against Goa in Ongole in February 2015. There was even a small felicitation function arranged for the soft-spoken 30-year-old. Several blue-collar workers wanted to catch a glimpse of one of their own who has managed to reach the pinnacle of Indian cricket. 

Bharat, who was one of the ball boys for the India-Pakistan ODI game here in 2015, was soaking it all up with pride but with zero hubris. Even when he came over for media duties, he said his goal is to keep the emotions aside and focus on helping India, trailing 1-0 in the series, stage a turnaround against England.

“Playing in front of your home crowd is definitely special but emotions aside, I am looking at it as any other Test game that you are playing for your country. There is definitely something for us to look forward and bounce back that as an Indian team we have always done well,” Bharat said on Thursday.

“There will be lot of noises if you are playing for your country. There will be good noises, bad noises, but the thing is you will have to be in the present moment. For me, it’s a proud moment playing in front of the home crowd, but if you look at the bigger picture, there is a Test game which is supposed to be played and my whole focus and our whole focus is definitely on that. Definitely it's an overwhelming feeling.”

India may have lost the opening Test but Bharat said the five-match series is like a marathon and the India team is confident of scripting a win. “After the (Hyderabad) game, the atmosphere is absolutely relaxed. They (seniors) told us not to panic, which we (youngsters) are not. But then the instruction is very clear it's a long Test series and we have played a lot of series like this in the past. And we as individuals have to focus on good things and things which we want to do well and do in the coming Test games. Everything is chill and relaxed and looking to do well as a team. That's the message from captain and coach. We are confident about it.”

Indian batters were seen playing the sweep and reverse sweep extensively during Wednesday’s ’nets’ and when asked if there’s a special emphasis on playing it, Bharat said the management has left the option open for individuals. “Playing in India, we play a lot of cricket on these tracks. It's not that we don't know how to sweep, reverse sweep or paddle, but on that particular day depending on the situation of the team we as batters take our calls. And it is very clear to us to bat with freedom. 

“We also practiced in reverse before the first game but playing out in the centre it's the batters' individual plan. If the team demands us to play in a certain way then we are up to it. But individually we have separate plans and looking to do well as batters.”