The curious case of Kona

In seven Tests overall, he’s collected just 221 runs for a lowly average of 20.09.

Visakhapatnam: The stars have aligned beautifully for Kona Bharat, but the wicketkeeper-batter doesn’t know how to cash in on all the good fortune that’s bestowed on him. 

In an ideal world, the 30-year-old from this very coastal city may not even have played Test cricket for India. With no disrespect to his talent or the 5,101 runs he has scored in 96 first-class matches, Bharat ended up becoming the 304th Test cricketer for India exactly a year ago against Australia by being the right man in the right place.

India’s main gloveman Rishabh Pant suffered a horrific car accident on December 30, 2022. With head coach Rahul Dravid having already told Wriddhiman Saha that he was too old for the job, the Indian management was on a desperate hunt for genuine wicketkeeper-batters for the marquee India-Australia series last February-March. With not many options available, especially for red-ball cricket, they chose Bharat and Ishan Kishan as the two keepers for the series.

Of the two, Bharat got the nod first, primarily for his keeping skills. Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma felt Bharat, given his decade-long experience on the domestic circuit, would be more adept at keeping against the likes of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Bharat passed that test with aplomb, graduating effortlessly by pulling off seven catches and effecting a stumping as well. His keeping was good and widely praised.

In fact, even in the two Tests in the ongoing series against England, he’s been remarkable behind the stumps. The problem is his performance in front of it.

In the Australia series, he managed a mere 101 runs in six innings and in the two Tests of the ongoing series against England, he’s mustered just 92. In seven Tests overall, he’s collected just 221 for a lowly average of 20.09.

What’s worrying is not his batting talent but the mistakes he commits to get out for low scores. He made 41 and 28 in the opening Test in Hyderabad, not enough to inspire confidence. The comfort of home in the second Test was the perfect chance for Bharat to show his ability with the bat but he fared worse, scoring just 17 and 6. Yet again, it was poor shot selection that spelt his doom.

Unlike some others in the squad who face severe pressure even after a few failures, Bharat, at least from the outside, looks like doesn’t have any weight on his head. The current team management has seemingly fallen out with Kishan, who actually debuted in the two-match Test series against the West Indies last July as the management wasn’t convinced if Bharat will succeed overseas.

Sadly though, Kishan’s career has hit a stop after his request for a break during the South Africa series in December-January didn’t go down well with some members of the management.

Rahul, who kept during the South Africa series and did a good job, has been relieved of 'keeping duties for the England series considering the toll it takes on his already injury-prone body. With another uncapped Dhruv Jurel as the second keeper in the squad, Bharat basically has zero competition for his spot.   

So, should the team management consider recalling Kishan or even pick Sanju Samson although the Kerala player doesn’t keep wickets on the domestic circuit? Or even hand Jurel a debut just to keep Bharat on his toes?

While agreeing Bharat needs to up his game on the batting side, Dravid all but ruled out looking at a different option. “His (Bharat) keeping has been good, he will also agree that his batting he could have done better. I don’t want to go on labouring about the Ishan Kishan point. Have tried to explain this as best as I can, the point was he had requested a break, we were happy to give him the break. 

“Whenever he was ready, I didn’t say he has to play domestic cricket, I said whenever he is ready, he needs to play some cricket and come back. He has not yet started playing right, so at the moment, it is not something we can consider. Because you know he maybe is not ready. He decides when he wants to be ready.”

With Kishan gone AWOL, it looks like Bharat may end up playing the remaining three Tests against England. It's another slice of fortune for him, and he needs to capitalise on it before luck and patience eventually run out.