After a loss in the first Test against England, the Indian cricket team bounced back in style in the second Test by defeating the Ben Stokes-led side by 106 runs. Despite England showing promising signs in patches, the Indian bowlers held their own to dismiss England twice in the match. The performances of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jasprit Bumrah and Shubman Gill stood out as India levelled the five-match series 1-1. However, there were some causes of concern too. The batting performances of specialist batters Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer left a lot to be desired.

The show put up by wicketkeeper KS Bharat was also not special. The 30-year-old has been getting chances behind the stumps with the likes of Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan unavailable due to various reasons.   

However, Indian cricket team coach Rahul Dravid was satisfied with the way Bharat kept in the first two Tests but could not say the same about his batting. He mistimed a half tracker to be caught at mid-on in the second innings and has not done much with the bat so far in the series.

“Disappointed is a strong word (for Bharat). I would not use that word. At times, young players do take time to develop. They grow at their own pace. Yeah I mean as a coach, you want players to grab the opportunities. His keeping has been good, he will also agree that he could have done better with the bat,” added the head coach. 

Considering KS Bharat’s ordinary run with the bat in the ongoing series against England, India could do with Ishan Kishan’s services. Rishabh Pant has not yet full recovered from the injuries he suffered in a horrific car accident in December, 2022. Besides K S Bharat, Dhruv Jurel was also part of the first two Tests.

“We are in touch with him (Ishan Kishan), it is not that we have not been in touch. He has not yet started playing right so at the moment it is not something we can consider. Because you know he maybe he is not ready. He decides when he wants to be ready. We have got options with Rishabh injured and stuff. I am sure the selectors will weight all options,” he said.

After the series levelling win over England, Dravid tried to clear the air over Kishan’s absence once again.

“There is way back for anyone and everyone. 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,” said Dravid in the media interaction.

“Whenever he is 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. The choice is his. We are not forcing him to do anything.”

With PTI inputs