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Cricket PlayersWhat role debutant KS Bharat played in Usman Khawaja's dismissal? Dinesh Karthik gives delightful insight on-air
Dinesh Karthik, who was mighty impressed with KS Bharat, provided a delightful insight into how the wicketkeeper assisted captain Rohit Sharma with the decision-making.
On the eve of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, a dapper-looking Dinesh Karthik was seen nailing the airport look with his luxury luggage. Resuming his commentary duties for the opening day of the 1st Test between India and Australia, Karthik arrived with a bag full of cricket nuggets as the veteran Indian gloveman was a breath of fresh air for all cricket aficionados, who tuned in for the proceedings of the Nagpur Test on Thursday.
Talking about debutant KS Bharat on-air, the celebrated cricketer was spot-on with his observation after Mohammed Siraj managed to draw first blood by removing Usman Khawaja in the second over of the Australian innings. Keeping the wickets in his debut game for Team India, gloveman Bharat played a lesser-known role in overturning the umpire's decision following a successful review. Karthik, who was mighty impressed with Bharat, provided a delightful insight into how the wicketkeeper assisted captain Rohit Sharma with the decision-making.
“They say a Test cap will always be well-earned. And he has really earned his stripes. Played for Andhra for a long time - And one of the few guys who has played a lot of India A games as well. Was there for about 5 years. And here it comes - in the first five minutes of his keeping, in his debut - a big call to be taken, everybody excited. Goes straight to Rohit Sharma to have a conversation with him. And that's the interesting part - as a keeper, you need to have clarity, you need to be sure, you need to tell the captain what exactly you have seen. In as few words as possible so he has enough time to take that decision,” Karthik said on-air.
Leading the pace attack of the hosts on Day 1 of the 1st Test match in Nagpur, pacer Siraj struck opener Khawaja with his fiery delivery that swung in to the Australian opener. Though Siraj's appeal was turned down by the umpire, Rohit managed to review the decision after his brief decision with debutant Bharat. Indian head coach Rahul Dravid pumped his fist from the pavilion after Rohit and Co. successfully reviewed the decision to remove Khawaja in the second over.
“Yes, and what is that question DK?,” Karthik's co-commentator quizzed him on-air. “Did it pitch in line? Do you reckon it will go over the stumps or do you think it will hit the stumps? And then you gotta come up with the reply, I generally say, ‘it looks very close and I have a feeling the worst part of it could be an umpire's call’ and that's the best way to say so that you don't lose the review. And I think that would have been the line of conversation that KS Bharat would have had (with Rohit),” Karthik explained.
Bharat was roped in as the first-choice wicketkeeper in the Indian Test side for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after Rishabh Pant suffered multiple injuries following a tragic car crash in December. While Bharat replaced Pant, premier batter Suryakumar Yadav was handed his debut Test cap after middle-order Shreyas Iyer failed to recover in time for the Nagpur Test match. Riding on patient knocks from Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, Pat Cummins’ Australia reached 76-2 in the 1st session of the Nagpur.
