Though local boy K.S. Bharat admits it will be an ‘overwhelming’ feeling to represent the country at his home ground in Visakhapatnam, he is focused on keeping his emotions aside and playing yet another game for India, which takes on England in the second Test at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here from Friday.
“Playing in front of your home crowd is special. But emotions aside, I am looking at this as any other Test game which you are playing for your country... It is an overwhelming feeling, but you have to let it sink in and focus on the Test game,” Bharat said while addressing the media on Thursday.
The national highway leading to the stadium is dotted with posters welcoming Bharat to his city of birth and Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) has also organised a felicitation ceremony in the premises of the stadium for the 30-year-old.
ACA has organised a felicitation ceremony for KS Bharat. | Photo Credit: Dhruva Prasad/ Sportstar
However, the wicketkeeper, who was picked for this series for his skill behind the stumps in spin-friendly conditions, is bracing for the challenge of keeping wickets against England’s revolutionary approach to Test cricket.
“Behind the stumps, if the balls don’t come to you, it becomes boring. Being a wicketkeeper, it is fun when someone plays the reverse sweep and sweep. It keeps you in the game. I enjoy it because it allows me to give something to the team, either by taking a catch or stopping [the ball] ... When someone reverses, it doesn’t affect my keeping,” he said.
Going by England’s reputation of being inventive with the bat in trying to access different parts of the field, Bharat is set to have another busy day behind the stumps.
While Bharat said the team did analyse the shots employed the England batters after the 28-run defeat in the first Test in Hyderabad, the Indian batters are not blindly committed to sweeping and reverse-sweeping only because that ploy worked for the opposition.
“We play a lot of cricket on these tracks. It’s not that we don’t know how to reverse [sweep] or sweep or [play] a paddle. On that day, depending on the team’s situation, we take our calls. It is very clear to us to bat with freedom. We had also practised some reverse sweeps ahead of the first game as well, but playing in the centre is the batter’s individual plan and if the team demands us to play a certain way, we are definitely up for it. As individual batters, we all have our different plans,” he explained.
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Bharat acknowledged that the absence of Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul was ‘unfortunate’, but backed the team’s bench strength, which has significant experience in domestic cricket, to come good.
One of Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan is set to make his debut on Friday. Both batters faced a healthy diet of spin bowling and some throwdowns in an optional net session on match eve.
Echoing his batting coach’s thoughts, Bharat said that the opposition is ‘allowed to win’ in India despite the host’s formidable record in Tests in its backyard.
He also added that India is good at bouncing back in a Test series after being down 0-1, in reference to the deficits the team overcame after trailing against Australia and England in 2017 and 2021, respectively.
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