KS Bharat

Cricket has always been about dreams and destiny, so is the story of Kona Srikar Bharat. The Andhra-based wicket-keeper batsman wore the keeping gloves for the first time because he was getting bored in the summer camps. The keeper hailing from Visakhapatnam was also the first Indian gloveman to score a triple-century in the Ranji Trophy. 

Like any Indian wicketkeeper, Bharat idolises MS Dhoni for his calmness on the field and he also admires his India-A coach, Rahul Dravid for his gentlemanship. Bharat never kept wickets until the age of 19, when his state team needed a batter who could keep the wickets, the youngster grabbed his moment. 

Bharat came into the domestic circuit during the 2012-13 season as he made his List-A debut against Tamil Nadu in February 2012. Next year, the keeper made his first-class debut and a couple of months later, he got included in the T20 team as well. 

Over the years, Bharat has been consistent in run-scoring and he is regarded as one of the best wicket-keepers present in the Indian setup. His breakthrough moment came during the 2014-15 season, where he scored 758 runs, including his record 308 off 311 against Goa. 

Post his breakthrough season, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) bought the keeper ahead of the 2015 IPL, but Bharat wasn’t fortunate enough to play a game. Since then, the wicket-keeper batsman has been piling up runs at domestic level and has played numerous Tests for the India-A side, but nothing more happened.

In 2019, Bharat got his maiden India call-up as a cover for Wriddhiman Saha during the second Test against Bangladesh. In 2020, he was again called during the Australian ODI series, after Rishabh Pant suffered a concussion, but he wasn’t lucky enough to play for India. In 2021, he was one of five standbys during the England Test series. 

After being a part of the Indian squad in the Sri Lanka series and one-off Test versus England in 2022, Bharat finally made his Test debut against Australia in the Nagpur Test.

In February 2021, Royal Challengers Bangalore acquired KS Bharat’s services ahead of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. Despite, blissful performances he was released by the franchise. The gloveman was a part of Delhi Capitals in 2022 and in the following year's auction, he was bagged by Gujarat Titans. 

(As of February 2023)