Indian wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat is fighting for the one spot with Ishan Kishan in Team India’s final playing XI in the World Test Championships (WTC) Final against Australia which gets underway at the Oval in London on Wednesday. It appears that Bharat now has the edge over Kishan and set to take the gloves behind the wicket in the WTC Final in the absence of regular keeper Rishabh Pant.

Bharat revealed on Monday that he received wicketkeeping advice from legendary MS Dhoni during the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season and said that his awareness about wicketkeeping is outstanding. Ahead of India’s ICC World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval from June 7 onwards, the Indian wicket-keeper told the ICC that he received some advice from none other than Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni ahead of the match against Australia at The Oval.

“Recently during the IPL, I had a word with Dhoni. He (talked about) his experiences keeping in England as well as what would work the best for any wicket-keeper. It was a very good conversation and there were a lot of insights from that,” Bharat told ICC website.

Receiving instruction from Dhoni was especially significant because Bharat cited the veteran when asked what makes a successful wicket-keeper. “It is the awareness – the best example is MS Dhoni, the awareness he has in keeping is outstanding. You need intent and passion to be a keeper, because keeping is a thankless job. You keep 90 overs in a Test day and you have to be concentrating ball by ball, so you have to accept the challenges and embrace it and be really passionate about contributing to the team,” Bharat said.

Bharat’s inclusion in the XI is one of the key decisions confronting India ahead of the opening day of action on Wednesday. The 29-year-old has only played four Tests for India, all against Australia earlier this year in India after filling in for the injured Rishabh Pant. Bharat’s glove work earned him a position in the team, but his batting performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series was poor, with a maximum score of 44 in six innings.

KS Bharat has revealed the invaluable advice he has received from MS Dhoni ahead of the #WTC23 Final _

Read _ https://t.co/zlE2z5R51m
— ICC (@ICC) June 5, 2023

India may go ahead with the aggressive left-hander Ishan Kishan for the one-off Test. Kishan is India’s alternative wicket-keeper option, and he arrived in England after a successful IPL season in which he scored 454 runs in 16 innings for Mumbai Indians with three fifties. But he is yet to make it to the Test playing XI, having scored 2,985 runs in 48 first-class matches at an average of 38.76 and six centuries and 16 fifties. On the other hand, in 90 FC matches, Bharat has 4,808 runs at an average of 37.27, with nine centuries and 27 fifties.

India’s squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner