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Former India batter Aakash Chopra feels wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat deserves a place in the team for the third Test against England, amid reports suggesting that youngster Dhruv Jurel is likely to replace him in the playing XI in Rajkot. Bharat has aggregated just 221 runs at an average of 20.09 in seven Tests and is yet to score a half-century in the longest format of the game. With the third Test starting at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday, reports have been rampant that Jurel is likely to make his Test debut, replacing Bharat.
Chopra has urged the management that Bharat deserves one more opportunity, adding that it would be premature to lose confidence in him so early into the series.
“It’s been heard that Dhruv Jurel will be handed his debut cap. I am thinking whether it’s right or wrong. Only two Tests have happened. I want him (Bharat) to keep in all five, but if you still need batting that much, Bharat deserves to be given at least one more match,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra also opined that Bharat has looked lively behind the stumps, and should be primarily judged on that aspect.
“I would say Srikar Bharat should firstly be judged on his keeping and I feel he is keeping decently. The pitches are difficult and that’s why you weren’t getting KL Rahul to keep. You said you wanted a specialist keeper. So he is doing his job fully as a specialist keeper,” he added.
Bharat has managed scores of 41, 28, 17, and 6 in the first two Tests. However, Chopra feels that the player fared decently with the bat in the first Test.
“He also batted decently in both innings in Hyderabad. If he had played a little longer in the second innings, India might have even won the match. So I will be a little disappointed (if he is dropped),” he concluded.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul, whose availability for the remaining three Tests was subject to fitness, has been ruled out of the third Test against England in Rajkot.
Rahul has reached 90 per cent of match fitness and is progressing well under the supervision of the BCCI Medical Team.
He will continue his recovery process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to be completely match-fit for the fourth and fifth Test.
(With ANI Inputs)
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