WI vs IND: Why is KS Bharat Not Playing India vs West Indies 1st Test? Who is India Wicket Keeper?

In a big breaking news development, Indian team have dropped premier wicket-keeper batsman KS Bharat for the first Test match against West Indies taking place at the Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica. It will be really important for the Indian team to put behind the poor WTC Final 2023 loss against Australia and start afresh in the 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle. Also, Team India has a wonderful recent record against West Indies having not lost a single Test match in the last 21 years.

WI vs IND: Why is KS Bharat Not Playing India vs West Indies 1st Test?

After having lost the toss and being asked to bowl first, Indian captain Rohit Sharma revealed that KS Bharat misses out from the India playing XI for this WI vs IND 1st Test match. Instead, India have handed debut Test cap to wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan as he gets his opportunity to showcase his talent now in the longer format of the game. After having played as many as 5 Test matches, Bharat has scored just 129 runs at a poor average of less than 20 and moreover, he has also dropped a few chances behind the wickets. On the other hand, Kishan has scored 2985 runs from 48 first-class matches that includes 15 fifties and 5 centuries.

“We have been here for a while, played a practice game in Barbados, here in Dominica for the last 4 days, rain did have a say, but we’re well prepared. The championship cycle final is two years away, but we’ve been consistent over the last couple of cycles. New guys in the squad, we just want to keep better as a team. I want the two debutants to enjoy, they’ve worked hard to come here, I want to make them feel comfortable and have some good memories of their first Test,” said India captain Rohit Sharma during the toss.

IND Playing 11

1. Rohit Sharma (C)
2. Yashasvi Jaiswal
3. Shubman Gill
4. Virat Kohli
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Ravindra Jadeja
7. Ishan Kishan (WK)
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Shardul Thakur
10. Jaydev Unadkat
11. Mohammed Siraj

WI vs IND 2023 Schedule