'I think they will persist with KS Bharat': Saba Karim on Ishan Kishan's chances of playing for India in WTC final

Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim feels Ishan Kishan has to wait for his Test debut despite several experts calling for his inclusion in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, starting next week. Karim reckons the youngster might have played had he featured in a home Test before this.

Kishan bagged a spot in the WTC squad as KL Rahul sustained a hip injury, ruling him out of the marquee fixture. The keeper-batter has decent first-class numbers, featuring in 48 matches and averaging 38.76 with 2985 runs alongside six centuries.

The 55-year-old feels India will stick with KS Bharat, given that Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma believe in giving a long rope to the players. He also underlined that playing Kishan would be a gamble at this stage.

"I don't think at this stage they will want to play Ishan Kishan. I think they will persist with KS Bharat since he has kept wickets for India in the home series. The kind of security Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma want to give the players, I think they will continue with Bharat. If they had played Ishan in the home series, I think he could have a chance. But since they haven't done that, I don't think they will take the chance in a crucial game like this and play him straightaway," he said, as quoted by the Times of India.

Saba Karim believes Ishan Kishan can learn a lot from being part of the team:

Despite being on the sidelines, Karim wants the 24-year-old to learn as much as he can by indulging in the team and feels he's not far away from his maiden Test cap.

"I think this will be a great learning experience for him. He should absorb as much as he can from seeing his teammates and the opponents and also from the interactions. Test cricket is a different ball game and there's so much to learn even if you're not part of the playing XI. His time will come and though he's looked at mainly as a white-ball cricketer now, I think he's played well in Ranji Trophy for some time now and will be a good choice for red-ball cricket in the future."

India will be keen to make amends this time around after failing to capture the WTC mace two years ago.