Ishan Kishan or KS Bharat? Ravi Shastri gives his take on India's wicketkeeper selection dilemma for WTC Final

It is time for Team India to turn their attention to Test cricket following the conclusion of the IPL 2023. The World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia will take place the following week under Rohit Sharma's leadership. Before taking on at the WTC summit clash, the team management appears to be slightly concerned about a problem with wicketkeepers. KL Rahul’s injury and Rishabh Pant’s unavailability compelled the selection committee to add Ishan Kishan to India’s WTC final squad, but Ishan could be sidelined as Team India have KS Bharat in the squad. 

In the same vein, the former Indian head coach, Ravi Shastri, affirmed that India should look to pick their keeper based on the overall composition of their bowling attack. Notably, in their last Test series, which they played at home against Australia at home, they chose Bharat over Kishan. Shastri predicted that if the conditions at The Oval call for using two spinners, they might do the same.

"I have a feeling that India might just go with depending on who's playing- two spinners are playing, maybe KS Bharat. But if there are four seamers and one spinner then it will go the other way, it might go Ishan Kishan's way. Six will be Jadeja, 7 will be Mohammed Shami, 8 will be Mohammed Siraj, 9 will be Shardul Thakur. 11 will be Ravichandran Ashwin and 12 will be Umesh Yadav,” Ravi Shastri told on Star Sports

Ravi Shastri gives his take on Wicketkeeper selection for WTC Final 

Furthermore, Ravi Shastri opined that there is a major race for the 11th player will be between Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav. The former head coach also counted on the weather situation which will play a role in the selection of the final playing XI for Team India. It is a general notion that when the conditions are overcast, then pacers may hold more value from the wicket than a spinner.

"Depending on the conditions, if four seamers are playing, then it'll be Umesh and Shardul who'll play with Siraj and Shami. But if two spinners are playing, which should be the case at The Oval, seeing what the weather is existing in England at the moment, where it's nice and sunny at times, then it will be Ashwin, Jadeja, Shardul, Shami and Siraj,” Shastri further added.

It is worthy to mention that Shastri was involved in the inaugural WTC final as a coach, therefore he holds a good knowledge about the English conditions. Two years ago, Team India went ahead with three fast bowlers and two spinners to play New Zealand in Southampton, where the cloudy conditions nearly eliminated the use of spin.

Now speaking of the players' experiences, KS Bharat has so far represented India in four Test matches. With 101 runs to his name, Bharat has recorded an average of 20.20. He was last seen in action during the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia in March. On the other hand, Ishan Kishan is yet to feature for India in a Test match.