Despite not registering anything substantial with the bat in the first three Tests, KS Bharat had a vote of confidence from his captain Rohit Sharma and the coach Rahul Dravid for the fourth and final game of the series. Bharat started ahead of Ishan Kishan as Australia chose to bat after winning the toss. 

The pitch here hasn’t produced an extravagant turn from the word go, and India started off with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami. Travis Head and Usman Khawaja batted comfortably against the Indian pace duo on a pitch that offered no movement and had very little bounce. Umesh, however, invited a prod from Travis Head and India could have gotten their first breakthrough, had KS Bharat not dropped an easy catch behind the stumps. 

It was a nightmarish start for a wicketkeeper, and his facial expressions couldn’t hide his disappointment. Head has been among the better batters in the series, and dropping him is akin to losing a foot in the game. Bharat, however, will be pleased that Head couldn’t carry out for long and hurt India, as he was trapped soon after the drinks break by R Ashwin. 

It’s not an easy surface for a wicketkeeper as well, and Bharat must be facing the heat already. He knows a good innings will go a long way in securing his place in the team, or else he may have to warm the bench for Ishan Kishan.

Rohit asked people not to judge Bharat’s batting, since the pitch was hardly conducive for batting. 

“Speaking about Bharat, he spent a lot of time in domestic cricket and scored a lot of runs. It will be unfair to judge him on these kind of pitches. Especially, if someone is making debut, you got to give him enough room to set himself up for a big score,” said Rohit Sharma in the pre-match press conference. 

As far as the match is concerned, Mohammed Shami prised out the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne to put India back on the front foot. Australia will need either Usman Khawaja or Steven Smith to play a long innings here.