KS Bharat continued his excellent run with India A with a brilliant century against England Lions on Day 4 of the first multi-day tour match on Saturday. The wicketkeeper batter scored an unbeaten 116 off 165 balls to help India A draw a game while chasing a 490-run target at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.
The 30-year-old wicketkeeper batter will join the Indian senior team for the upcoming five-match Test series starting on January 25 in Hyderabad. KS Bharat is reportedly tipped to don the wicketkeeping gloves ahead of KL Rahul and uncapped Dhruv Jurel and his performances with India A further boost his chances to find a place in the playing eleven.
Indian management is considering fielding a specialist wicketkeeper against England due to the turning nature of the pitch and Bharat is their first choice. KL Rahul donned the gloves in the recent Test series against South Africa but is tipped to play in a batter role only on Indian pitches.
Bharat made his Test debut during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year and was also part of the playing eleven that lost against Australia in the ICC World Test Championship 2023 final at the Oval. Bharat is yet to impress with a bat in international cricket with just 129 runs in eight Test innings but was brilliant with his wicketkeeping skills.
Meanwhile, Bharat also scored 64 runs against the England Lions in the only two-day tour game and has registered one century and two fifties in his last five overall innings. Andhra batter also recorded one century and one fifty in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023-24 in November-December.
India A managed to avoid a defeat while chasing a huge target on Day 4. Apart from Bharat, Sai Sudharsan contributed 97 runs and spin all-rounder Manav Suthar scored 89* off 254 balls. India A will next play England Lions in the second multi-day game starting on January 20.
