Indian wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat has officially retired from international cricket, ok. The 32-year-old represented India during the time when Rishabh Pant was sidelined after his serious car accident, and Bharat kind of stepped in as the team’s main wicketkeeper from early 2023 to early 2024.
In that spell he turned up in seven Test matches for India and picked up his international debut under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. In his retirement note, the Andhra Pradesh cricketer said thanks to Rohit Sharma and his earlier Royal Challengers Bengaluru mate Virat Kohli, for backing him through the whole journey.
On Thursday, June 4, KS Bharat kind of confirmed his retirement from international cricket through an emotional post, shared on Instagram . In that message the wicketkeeper-batter looked back on his journey and thanked everyone who helped him realize that longed for dream of representing the country.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by K S Bharat (@konasbharat)
He also mentioned the support of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA), saying both organizations mattered a lot in shaping him, as a cricketer and more.
The Andhra player made his IPL debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru back in 2021 , when Virat Kohli was steering the franchise. Two years later, he got his first India call-up during the home Test series against Australia, after the usual wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant couldn’t play due to injuries from a life-threatening car crash.
Bharat came into international cricket at a time when Rohit Sharma was captaining the national side, and Rahul Dravid worked as head coach. In his farewell note, he sort of thanked both legends, plus Virat Kohli for believing in him and helping him stand up in Indian cricket, like properly establish himself.
KS Bharat’s career:
Between 2023 and 2024 Bharat turned out in seven Test matches for India. Batting in the middle order , he managed 221 runs across 12 innings, with an average of 20.09. It was a short span, but still, it counts.
Even if his international numbers looked modest, Bharat apparently had real weight in domestic cricket. He took part in 113 first-class matches and gathered over 6,000 runs in red-ball cricket, averaging 36.53. Now that he has stepped away from international cricket, he will keep playing domestic cricket though, because there’s still that ongoing drive in him.
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Recently, all-rounder Vijay Shankar also announced, his retirement from international cricket , kinda suddenly i guess. The growing pile of retirements in recent months has reportedly pushed the BCCI to think about a new retirement policy for Indian cricketers.
The talk got extra momentum after a few players chose to step away from international cricket, so they could play in overseas T20 leagues. As per the reports, the proposed policy will be reviewed and talked through during the upcoming Apex Council meeting.
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