After Deepak Chahar another Indian player withdraws from South Africa tour, replacement named
After levelling the T20I series 1-1 against South Africa with a thumping victory of 106 runs in the final T20I, India have moved on to the three-match One-Day series starting from 17 December in Johannesburg. India is going in with a relatively younger and inexperienced side in the One-day series against the Proteas as the majority of their prominent names are preparing for the Test series which is to take right after the white-ball leg of the tour.
India is set to play two test matches against South Africa starting from 26th December in Centurion. While all the big guns including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are set to return for the red-ball leg of the South Africa tour, India has suffered a major blow just before the Test series as wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan has opted out of the remainder of the South Africa tour citing personal reasons.
Ishan Kishan is the second Indian player who withdrew from the South Africa tour after being announced in the squad for personal reasons. Earlier Deepak Chahar who was a part of the Indian T20I and ODI squad also opted out of the South Africa tour due to a medical emergency at home.
KS Bharat roped in as Ishan Kishan’s replacement
With KL Rahul already being in the squad as the second wicketkeeper option, KS Bharat has also been roped in as Ishan Kishan’s replacement for the red-ball leg of the tour. KS Bharat least featured for the Indian Test team in the World Test Championship final at the Oval that India lost against Australia in June this year.
KS Bharat also played in the home test series against Australia in February-March but failed to impress the selectors and was subsequently dropped from the World Test Championship. Though he might not get the opportunity to play in the two matches against South Africa as it is looking like KL Rahul who had a stellar ODI World Cup with both the bat and the gloves will get a preference over Bharat. Still, given the difficult South African conditions, India might go in with a proper wicketkeeper in the guise of KS Bharat.
