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Cricket Players'I still remember Rahul Dravid raving about him': Laxman lauds India's star player of 1st Test, says knew he was special
While analysing Day of the IND vs NZ 1st Test, former batter VVS Laxman heaped praise on the India player, saying he was rated highly from the beginning by his head coach Rahul Dravid.
India off-spinner Axar Patel grabbed the main headlines on Day 3 of the first India-New Zealand Test on Saturday as he bagged yet another five-wicket haul in the whites. Despite his stellar show, there was another player in KS Bharat, who was not even a part of the original playing XI, who made an impact on the field and grabbed a lot of eyeballs. Interestingly, his impressive glovework did not come as a surprise to VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid.
The Visakhapatnam-born wicketkeeper took the field at the start of Day 3 after Wriddhiman Saha could not don the gloves due to a stiff neck. And the youngster made the most of his opportunity as he grabbed two very sharp catches, one each off R Ashwin and Axar Patel, and effected a skillful stumping to dismiss Tom Latham.
Discussing Bharat's wicketkeeping show in a show on Star Sports, Laxman revealed an interesting anecdote from a conversation he once had with Rahul Dravid.
"I still remember Rahul Dravid raving about KS Bharat’s wicketkeeping skills. He told me that Bharat has good keeping skills, next only to Wriddhiman Saha in Indian cricket."
"In these quality spin conditions, if you don't have a reliable wicketkeeper then you're going to miss a lot of chances. What we saw today was great technique and great presence of mind, he didn't panic at all for someone who has come into this team recently and got to play only because Saha was injured," concluded VVS Laxman.
Meanwhile, Axar revealed the staggering details of the events leading up to Bharat taking the field in a press conference after the end of Day 3.
“It’s not at all easy if you are in the 15 and all of a sudden you are asked to rush to the field. When Wriddhi bhai’s neck became stiff, he was practising at the ground, strolling in the morning, and then he had some 10 minutes to get ready. And to keep on these wickets is tough in itself, the way he was collecting, the way he was catching, the way he did that stumping, so I feel he will improve further with time,” Axar elaborated.
