Veteran India cricketer VVS Laxman recalled when current head coach Rahul Dravid heaped huge praise on KS Bharat for his wicketkeeping skills in the past. Bharat, who hasn’t made his international debut yet, came as a substitute wicketkeeper for Wriddhiman Saha on Day 3 of the 1st Test match against New Zealand. Saha suffered a neck sprain and couldn’t take the field and Bharat kept the gloves in his absence.
Laxman recalled that Dravid once heaped huge praise on Bharat and told him that his keeping skills are next only to Saha.
“I still remember Rahul Dravid raving about KS Bharat’s wicketkeeping skills. He told me that Bharat has good keeping skills, next only to Wriddhiman Saha in Indian cricket,” Laxman told Star Sports.
The 28-year-old impressed many with his keeping skills as he grabbed a couple of tricky catches and executed a smart stumping to fill in Saha’s big shoes behind the stumps.
The veteran batter said that Bharat has repaid the faith of the selectors and the head coach with his performance on Day 3 of the first Test.
“It’s good to see him repaying the faith the selectors and the head coach. I think he has justified the confidence showed in him by the selectors and the coach,” he said.
The 28-year-old has performed exceedingly well in domestic cricket. In first-class cricket, he has an aggregate of 4283 runs in 123 innings at an average of 37.24 including 9 hundred and 23 fifties.
Laxman said that Bharat was calm and composed behind the stumps as he didn’t panic and had a great presence of mind.
“In these quality spin conditions, if you don’t have a reliable wicketkeeper then you’re going to miss a lot of chances. What we saw today was great technique and great presence of mind, he didn’t panic at all for someone who has come into this team recently and got to play only because Saha was injured.
