"I think Bharat is the straight-up option" - Abhinav Mukund on Team India's red-ball wicketkeeper conundrum 

Opening batter Abhinav Mukund shed light on the current wicketkeeping conundrum that poses for Team India upon the unfortunate injury to Rishabh Pant. The selection committee has included KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan in the Test squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, with the latter receiving his maiden call-up.

Bharat was included in the mix once senior player Wriddhiman Saha was phased out of the Test squad. He is yet to make his debut due to Pant's sparkling form but has been consistent on the domestic circuit.

Kishan, on the other hand, was rewarded for his white-ball form, emerging as a potential left-handed option in the batting order.

Weighing the options that Team India have among their ranks at the moment, Mukund said in an interview with News 18 Cricket Next:

"Flamboyance can be associated with KS Bharat also, to be very honest. He actually plays at a very fast pace when he plays red-ball cricket. I’ve seen a lot. By route by order. I feel it should be KS Bharat because ever since Saha was ousted and Pant became number one, Bharat has been his number two for a while."

Mukund continued:

"So, in that order, I think Bharat is the straight-up option. But if you look at it more deeply then there is only one left-hander in the line-up."

Kishan is currently assuming keeping responsibilities for the ODI side in the absence of KL Rahul. The Karantaka-born player was not included in the squad for the series against New Zealand due to family commitments.

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"You never know, one good IPL season suddenly he is back in the radar" - Abhinav Mukund on Shikhar Dhawan's place in the ODI setup

In a major overhaul of the ODI setup, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were not added for Team India's ongoing home season.

Dhawan had a lean run of form after the tour of the Caribbean in August 2022 and the emergence of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan as potential options has not helped his cause.

Citing Dinesh Karthik as an example, Abhinav Mukund feels that it is too early to rule Dhawan out of the ODI setup completely. He said:

"You know what, I said this about my good friend Dinesh Karthik, that it was his end of the road and he ended up playing in the T20 World Cup. So it can never be end of the road for anybody. You never know, one good IPL season suddenly he is back in the radar. Yeah. Never shut their doors or shut doors or anybody like that."

Dhawan has a huge Indian Premier League (IPL) season in sight after being named as the captain of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise following the mini-auction.

Who should be India's first-choice wicket-keeper for the Border-Gavaskar series? Let us know what you think.

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