The wickets so far in the Border-Gavaskar trophy have not been unplayable but require the batters to trust their defence, said India wicketkeeper K S Bharat on Monday.
Having been part of the Test side for the past 12 months, Bharat finally got to make his debut in the ongoing series with Rishabh Pant recovering from the injuries he sustained during a car accident in December.
Bharat was impressive behind the stumps in the first two Tests and played a morale-boosting knock in India’s chase of 115 in Delhi.
Sent ahead of Ravindra Jadeja in the small run chase, Bharat scored an attacking 23 off 22 balls, comprising three fours and a six.
“I enjoyed whatever I did in Delhi. My job was to keep it simple. You just need to back your defence, the wickets are not unplayable. You apply yourself, back your defence and there is definitely scope for batters to score,” said Bharat.
“Rohit bhai told me that I will bat at no 6 in Delhi’s second innings. The moment Australia were all out, I was ready to bat and contribute. The intent is never a problem, shot selection is critical on these tracks. Runs will come here if the shot selection is right.
“You can’t just defend, you have to look for scoring opportunities, that is what I tried to do.” Bharat has a tough job of keeping wickets with the skilful R Ashwin and Jadeja in operation.
“They are top-class spinners. It is not easy keeping but keeping in domestic cricket all these years has helped.” He got the opportunity to make his Test debut in unfortunate circumstances as Pant got injured. Bharat said he was always ready to take the next step.
“As a player, you always expect the opportunity to come to your door. I have always prepared myself for any opportunity.
“I got to play in Nagpur after my time with India A and years of domestic cricket. You want to play for the country, it is the biggest dream. When the opportunity comes I will take it,” added Bharat.
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