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No Ishan Kishan but three wicketkeepers: Unraveling the Rahul vs Bharat vs Jurel mystery before IND vs ENG 1st Test
KL Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel will fight for the keeper's spot in the first India vs England Test in Hyderabad.
Amidst the touch of predictability to India’s squad for the first two Tests against England nestles a serious ambiguity – the presence of three designated wicketkeepers.
A 16-member squad for two home games might appear excessive, but in these days of concussion subs and deliberately delayed decision-making, international teams have started to believe that more is better. The composition of the playing XI generally takes care of itself, but it is no secret that following the Rishabh Pant-sized hole left by the ebullient stumper’s horrendous road accident 12 and a half months back, India are struggling to fill that lacuna.
In the nine Tests the left-handed maverick has missed since February, three men have donned the big gloves. KS Bharat fulfilled that responsibility in the four home Tests and the World Test Championship final against Australia, and while his keeping was beyond reproach, he mustered a mere 129 runs at an average of 18.42. That opened the door for Ishan Kishan to debut in the Caribbean last July; the diminutive left-hander was tidy behind the sticks and typically effervescent in front of it, making a half-century in his second appearance. In normal course, he should have slotted in behind the stumps during the two Tests in South Africa over the last three weeks, but his unavailability -- he returned home citing ‘personal’ reasons, since said to be related to mental health – threw KL Rahul a lifeline in an unfamiliar role in Test cricket.
Rahul impeccable but might not be first-choice keeper
Rahul was impeccable, excellent with the gloves and exceptional with the bat while making a sublime century on a tricky surface in Centurion. But even during that two-match series, the nagging doubt persisted if it was a role he would feel comfortable in at home, on expected turners where even regular stumpers have found R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav more than a handful.
The Bangalorean is among the three wicketkeepers in the running for the England series, which begins in Hyderabad on January 25. Keeping him company are Bharat, who returned to the Test mix in South Africa after Kishan’s departure, and the exciting 22-year-old Dhruv Jurel, the only uncapped player in the 16-strong party.
KS Bharat vs Dhruv Jurel not straightforward
The presence of Bharat, as much as Jurel, would indicate that the think-tank is reconsidering Rahul’s status within the Test landscape. At 31, Rahul has plenty of cricket ahead of him, and is being looked at as a long-term future leader. He has already captained the national team in all three formats, and in any case, whoever is the wicketkeeper now is merely warming the chair for Pant once he regains full fitness and exhibits form, neither of which is unlikely to eventuate. Going forward, India will be best served with Rahul in the Test middle order, so it is imperative that he isn’t needlessly exposed to the potential for injuries that wicketkeeping in India brings with it.
If it isn’t Rahul, then who is more likely to be given the wicketkeeping responsibility in Hyderabad? The odds favour Bharat, not least because he has already kept in home Tests and because he has greater experience of fronting up to quality spin than Jurel, who is only 15 games and two years young in first-class cricket. Despite his modest returns in the five-day format, Bharat is an accomplished batter with nearly 5,000 first-class runs from 93 games at an average of 36.40. The team management will have to go against its recent grain and take a huge punt based on potential alone for Jurel to make his debut in Hyderabad, because England apart, nowhere else is wicketkeeping more challenging than in India, with spitting turn and uneven bounce near-constants throughout the duration of the game.
It’s not as if Jurel has no prior experience of standing up to top-class spinners. In the Uttar Pradesh team, he has regularly kept to left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar, and to Axar in India ‘A’ games. His recent form with the bat is very encouraging too, so on the face of it, Bharat vs Jurel might not appear a straightforward choice. But given the significance teams attach to starting a series well, it is more than likely that Bharat will return to the red-ball stage after a seven-month gap with Jurel looming as an understudy waiting for his opportunity.
Of course, this will then mean finding a place in the middle order for Rahul as a pure batter. Neither Shubman Gill nor Shreyas Iyer has been in great Test touch. Which one of them, if at all, will go out? Or will a convenient compromise, the flavour of the season, hold sway again?
