No KS Bharat in Irfan Pathan’s India playing XI for WTC final

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has revealed his India playing XI for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia, scheduled to be played at the Oval in London from June 7. The 38-year-old has picked Ishan Kishan over KS Bharat in his lineup.

The bold statement comes even as Kishan is yet to make his Test debut. Bharat, on the other hand, returned with just 101 runs at an average of 20.20 during the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), which Team India won 2-1 at home earlier this year.

The former left-arm pacer picked captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as his first-choice openers for the WTC final. He followed that up with Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane in the middle order. Pathan included Kishan to complete his list of specialist batters.

In the bowling unit, Pathan picked Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin/ Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj.

Irfan further added that the final decision between Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur will be made depending on the conditions.

In an Instagram post, he wrote:

“It’s early summer, so the question for me is the weather n pitch. So, the debate will be between Ash and Shardul.”

In England, Ashwin has scalped 18 wickets in seven Tests. Shardul, on the other hand, has returned with eight wickets in three Tests in England. In addition, Ashwin will bring a wealth of experience to the WTC final.

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Ishan Kishan vs KS Bharat for WTC final – What do the numbers say?

KS Bharat fares better than Ishan Kishan as far as numbers in first-class career are concerned. Bharat has amassed 4808 runs in 90 first-class (FC) games at an average of 37.27, including nine centuries and 27 half-centuries.

On the other hand, Ishan Kishan has scored 2985 runs in 48 FC games at an average of 38.76, including six tons and 16 half-centuries.

Kishan is coming off the back of a terrific IPL 2023 campaign, scoring 454 runs in 16 games, including three half-centuries for Mumbai Indians (MI). Bharat, meanwhile, didn’t find any opportunity to bat for Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2023.