In the absence of the Test regulars Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul, India ticked most of the boxes in the 106-run win over England in the second Test at Visakhapatnam. However, going into the third Test at Rajkot from February 14, one area that the team would seek an improvement is the wicketkeeper’s slot after KS Bharat’s poor batting form in Vizag.

Bharat has managed to notch up mere 92 runs in four innings in the ongoing series and is yet to register a fifty in 12 Test innings of his career. With Rishabh Pant still recovering from a deadly car crash suffered on December 31, 2022, Ishan Kishan’s name has emerged as one of the other wicketkeeping options.

However, Ishan, who made his Test debut in July 2023 against the West Indies and was impressive with the bat in the two games, decided to take a break from the sport and was subsequently released from the touring party to South Africa. The 25-year-old Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter last played competitive cricket in November 2023 during a T20I series against Australia at home.

On Monday, India head coach Rahul Dravid touched on the issue of Kishan, saying that the management wasn’t “forcing him to do anything”.

“There’s a way back for anyone and everyone. It’s not that we rule out anybody from anything. I just don’t want to go on labouring about the Ishan Kishan point. I’ve tried to explain it as best as I can. The point was that, you know, he requested a break. We were happy to give him the break and whenever he was ready… I didn’t say he has to play domestic cricket. I said, whenever he’s ready he needs to play some cricket and come back, and the choice is his,” Dravid said at the post-match presser.

“We’re not forcing him to do anything and we are in touch with him. It’s not that we’re not in touch. We know what it is, but he hasn’t yet started playing, right? So, at the moment, it’s not something that we would consider because, you know, he’s maybe not ready. He decides when he wants to be ready and we’ve got options obviously with Rishabh (Pant) injured and stuff. So I’m sure the selectors will weigh all the options,” he added.

While KL Rahul took over the wicketkeeping responsibilities in the two Test series in South Africa, the Indian selectors decided to bank on Bharat and young Uttar Pradesh stumper Dhruv Jurel in the run-up to the first two Tests against England.

Bharat played both Tests, taking six catches. He took India closer than they might have expected to in the chase in Hyderabad after the top order struggled to deal with Tom Hartley’s left-arm spin. But on a flatter track in Vizag, Bharat could only manage scores of 17 and 6, begging questions on his selection.

Dravid conceded that Bharat’s batting needed some improvement but at the same time backed his wicket keeping skills.

“Young players need time to develop and they’re growing at their own pace. Of course, as a coach, you really want players who come in to be able to grab the opportunities they get and be able to perform. His keeping, to be honest, in the Test matches has been really good. I think he’ll also feel that, with his batting, I think he’ll agree that he certainly could have done better,” Dravid said.

“There were opportunities. Sometimes he’s played on some difficult tracks, to be honest, but sometimes he’s had the opportunity to make a little bit better contributions,” he added.