KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan are currently featured in every news story due to WTC Final. Everyone is debating who should be a wicketkeeper batter in the World Test Championship final playing XI.
In Test cricket, Rishab Pant did a really good job. Like MS Dhoni, he was playing the finisher. But he went through serious injuries in an accident last year. Early this year, BCCI made the decision to place KS Bharat into the squad as his replacement in the Test series against Australia. While Ishan was always on standby, he did not appear in any Test matches.
But, Ishan Kishan is also in the 15-man squad announced for India in WTC final. However, there is still some uncertainty about who will be the best fit for this game. Both have quite different batting methods and styles. Srikar Bharat is noted for his cool approach and protective attitude. He requires some overs to establish and understand pitch conditions and scenarios.
Ishan Kishan’s method, on the other hand, is similar to Rishab Pant’s. He attempts to attack the bowler as soon as possible. This assists him in dominating the bowling side.
Let’s take a closer look at both batters in different formats:
Ishan Kishan vs KS Bharat Test Stats
KS Bharat has represented India in three Test matches. He played as a regular Wicketkeeper and scored only 101 runs in three Test matches with a batting average of only 20. His highest score in Test Cricket is 44 last match of the series. Let’s view his runs in all Test matches:
| Runs | Ball | 4s | 6s | S/R | Bat Pos | Dismissal Type | Venuw |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 8 | lbw | Nagpur |
| 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 7 | Venue | Delhi |
| 23* | 22 | 3 | 1 | 104.54 | 6 | not out | Delhi |
| 17 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 56.66 | 7 | lbw | Indore |
| 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 37.5 | 7 | bowled | Indore |
| 44 | 88 | 2 | 3 | 50 | 6 | caught | Ahmedabad |
Ishan Kishan has not appeared in any Test match. This will be his first Test match for Team India.
KS Bharat vs Ishan Kishan ODI Stats
KS Bharat has not appeared in an ODI for India. Due to strong competition in ODIs, he was unable to secure his place. In one-day internationals, the Indian team prioritizes Dinesh Karthik and Ishan Kishan.
Ishan Kishan has 510 runs in 14 One-Day Internationals for Team India. In his debut, he knocks a fifty against Sri Lanka. In December 2022, he became the youngest player in history to record an ODI double century against Bangladesh. The following are his ODI batting stats by match:
| Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | S/R | Bat Pos | Dismissal | Opponent | Venuw |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59 | 42 | 8 | 2 | 140.47 | 3 | caught | SL | Colombo (RPS) |
| 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 | bowled | SL | Colombo (RPS) |
| 28 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 77.77 | 2 | caught | WI | Ahmedabad |
| DNB | – | – | – | – | – | – | ZIM | Harare |
| 6 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 46.15 | 4 | bowled | ZIM | Harare |
| 50 | 61 | 6 | 0 | 81.96 | 4 | run out | ZIM | Harare |
| 20 | 37 | 3 | 0 | 54.05 | 4 | caught | SA | Lucknow |
| 93 | 84 | 4 | 7 | 110.71 | 3 | caught | SA | Ranchi |
| 10 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 55.55 | 3 | caught | SA | Delhi |
| 210 | 131 | 24 | 10 | 160.3 | 2 | caught | BD | Chattogram |
| 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 35.71 | 4 | caught | NZ | Hyderabad |
| 8* | 9 | 2 | 0 | 88.88 | 4 | not out | NZ | Raipur |
| 17 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 70.83 | 4 | run out | NZ | Indore |
| 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 37.5 | 1 | lbw | Aus | Wankhede |
Ishan Kishan vs KS Bharat T20I Stats
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan is India’s usual opening batter in T20Is. Ishan Kishan has 653 runs for India in 27 T20 Internationals. He has four fifties and his highest T20 score (89) came against Sri Lanka in Lucknow. The following is a complete list of all of his matches:
| Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | S/R | Dismissal | Opponetn | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 175 | lbw | v England | Ahmedabad |
| 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 44.44 | caught | v England | Ahmedabad |
| 20* | 14 | 1 | 1 | 142.85 | not out | v Sri Lanka | Colombo (RPS) |
| 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 50 | caught | v New Zealand | Dubai (DSC) |
| 29 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 138.09 | caught | v New Zealand | Eden Gardens |
| 35 | 42 | 4 | 0 | 83.33 | caught | v West Indies | Eden Gardens |
| 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20 | caught | v West Indies | Eden Gardens |
| 34 | 31 | 5 | 0 | 109.67 | bowled | v West Indies | Eden Gardens |
| 89 | 56 | 10 | 3 | 158.92 | caught | v Sri Lanka | Lucknow |
| 16 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 106.66 | caught | v Sri Lanka | Dharamsala |
| 76 | 48 | 11 | 3 | 158.33 | caught | v South Africa | Delhi |
| 34 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 161.9 | caught | v South Africa | Cuttack |
| 54 | 35 | 5 | 2 | 154.28 | caught | v South Africa | Visakhapatnam |
| 27 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 103.84 | caught | v South Africa | Rajkot |
| 15 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 214.28 | bowled | v South Africa | Bengaluru |
| 26 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 236.36 | bowled | v Ireland | Dublin (Malahide) |
| 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60 | caught | v Ireland | Dublin (Malahide) |
| 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 80 | caught | v England | Southampton |
| 11 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 84.61 | caught | v West Indies | Lauderhill |
| 36 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 116.12 | caught | v New Zealand | Mount Maunganui |
| 10 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 90.9 | caught | v New Zealand | Napier |
| 37 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 127.58 | caught | v Sri Lanka | Wankhede |
| 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40 | bowled | v Sri Lanka | Pune |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50 | caught | v Sri Lanka | Rajkot |
| 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 80 | bowled | v New Zealand | Ranchi |
| 19 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 59.37 | run out | v New Zealand | Lucknow |
| 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | lbw | v New Zealand | Ahmedabad |
On the other hand, KS Bharat did not play any T20I games.
Ishan Kishan vs KS Bharat IPL Stats
Ishan Kishan plays for the Mumbai Indians, and KS Bharat was part of the Gujarat Titans. In the IPL, there is no comparison between these batters, as Ishan Kishan is one of the league’s most prominent players. KS Bharat, on the other hand, was unable to crack the Gujrat Titans’ starting XI. The table below compares both IPL wicketkeepers.
| Batter | Matches | Runs | H/S | Avg | S/R | Catches | Stumps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KS Bharat | 10 | 199 | 78 | 28 | 122 | 4 | 1 |
| Ishan Kishan | 91 | 23 | 99 | 24 | 134 | 42 | 5 |
Conclusion
By analyzing all the statistics, we have come to the conclusion that KS Bharat only has an upside over Ishan Kishan: he has played in three Test Matches.
Besides that, whether you look at runs in international cricket, experience, or exposure, Ishan is in ahead of him. In every cricketing statistic, he is outperforming KS Bharat. KS played in only a couple of Test matches, but his performance was mediocre.
Ishan Kishan is also part of the playing XI for the WTC final that was selected by Great Ravi Shastri and Harbhajan Singh. But Some players believe it depends on the bowing lineup chosen for WTC Final. Ishan should be used if India chooses to bowl with three regular fast bowlers; otherwise, KS Bharat should be utilized because Ashwin and Jadeja can fill this gap with the bat.
