Ravi Shastri on India’s wicketkeeper conundrum for the WTC final: “It’s not that one person is vastly superior to another.”

Beginning on June 7, the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia will be played at the Oval in London. Due to KL Rahul’s injury, the wicketkeeper position is up for grabs between KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri commented on the dilemma and stated that there is little separating Bharat and Kishan.

Bharat made his Test debut for India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was retained for the WTC final. Notably, he has been Team India’s reserve since Wriddhiman Saha’s departure. Kishan, on the other hand, received his first Test call-up prior to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but did not play, as Bharat participated in all four matches.

Shastri stated in the most recent issue of the ICC Review that Bharat was given an opportunity against Australia and that the Andhra Pradesh-born goalkeeper is the obvious choice for the WTC final. He added that India could contemplate selecting Kishan because his batting can strengthen the middle order.

“This is yet another close call (decision). Now, if there are two spinners participating, you want Bharat to play. You must determine who is the superior guardian. Is it Ishan Kishan or Bharat? In light of the fact that Bharat was given an opportunity against Australia, where he participated in every Test match, I believe he would be the obvious choice,” Shastri said.

Ravi Shastri predicted XI for the World Test Championship final included two spinners, with wicketkeeper KS Bharat selected by the 60-year-old.

Notably, Bharat has scored 101 runs in six innings, and his abilities behind the wickets on even rank-turners have been influential.

There is little there. It’s not that one man is significantly superior to the other. Whether you want Ishan Kishan’s batting to bolster the middle order will also be relevant. This is yet another aspect that you will consider. Are you planning to utilize four quick bowlers? Then there’s not much rotation, and all you need is a competent wicketkeeper,” he continued.

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj are Ravi Shastri’s predicted India XI.