Border-Gavaskar Trophy: KL Bharat is making his Test debut for India in the series-opener against Australia. Bharat was picked ahead of Ishan Kishan as India’s wicketkeeper for the first Test.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 9, 2023 09:36 IST
India vs Australia: KS Bharat makes debut, picked ahead of Ishan Kishan for first Test in Nagpur (PTI Photo)
By India Today Web Desk: Young wicket-keeper KS Bharat made his Test debut for the Indian team in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy’s series-opening Nagpur Test against Australia on Thursday. Bharat was picked ahead of limited-overs specialist Ishan Kishan as Rishabh Pant’s replacement for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In a first, the BCCI invited both Suryakumar and Bharat’s families to come inside the ground and watch the Test cap presentation ceremony. Head coach Rahul Dravid congratulated and shook hands with the family members of both Indian players.
IND vs AUS 1st Test Day 1 Live Score Updates
It may be recalled that Bharat had donned the gloves for India in place of Wriddhiman Saha on day 3 of the first Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur in 2021, after the Bengal gloveman had suffered stiffness in his neck.
“We would have batted too. Looks pretty dry. There will be help for spinners. We got to wait and see how much it does,” Rohit said at the toss.
“Yesterday when we started training we did see some seam movement for the pacers up front. We have had a good prep for the last 5-6 days. We trained on the aspects in store. This is a big one. We know the importance of the series but we also understand it’s about winning one session at a time. It’s a long series. Three spinners, two seamers, Bharat and Suryakumar Yadav are debuting,” he added.
Playing XI:
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland
India: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
