Former Indian wicket-keeper Saba Karim reveals his choice of wicket-keeper for the India-Australia Test series

In an unfortunate unravelling, Rishabh Pant was caught in a car crash on Friday, raising serious concerns about his return to the Indian side. With Australia up next in the list of bilateral affairs that India will find themselves to be a part of, a major question that will be now doing the rounds is about who is up next for the wicket-keeping role.

India has a wide pool of wicket-keeping talent in their ranks but most of them have never been tested in the longer format of the game. The seasoned likes of Wriddhiman Saha can be the most viable option but his batting numbers haven’t been too inspiring. KS Bharat’s name is also doing a few rounds and only time shall reveal who should be making the final cut. However, former Indian wicket-keeper, Saba Karim had a surprising suggestion to India’s wicket-keeping dilemma in recent times.

Talking on India News, Saba Karim had a choice in mind that was surprising, but he had reasons to back his call. Karim said, “I agree that KS Bharat is being groomed for the Test keeping role. But with all due respect to him, I feel Ishan Kishan is more suitable as an ideal replacement for Pant, considering the kind of role that Pant was playing in the Test team. He is playing the Ranji Trophy and has scored a hundred at a quick pace.”

Karim further added, “We were winning Tests due to Pant’s presence because not only was he playing match-winning knocks, but was doing them at a quick pace. This was transferring pressure on the opposition, while also giving bowlers time to take 20 wickets. Kishan hasn’t played red-ball cricket for India A, but he has been playing domestic red-ball cricket for a few years.”

The four-Test series against Australia will be the most important one of the ongoing WTC given the fact that this will be paving the path for the two finalists of the tournament. Australia are obviously the firm favourites to be the first team to reach the final while India will have to have a near-perfect run to make the cut.