IND vs ENG: KS Bharat slammed for missing easy stumping opportunity - 'This mediocre plays over Sanju Samson'

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IND vs ENG: Srikar Bharat was called out for missing the stumping opportunity of Ollie Pope on Day 2 of the second Test between India and England in Visakhapatnam.

The opportunity came early in the 11th over of England's first innings. On a Kuldeep Yadav delivery immediately after the wicket of Ben Duckett, Srikar Bharat missed an easy stumping opportunity to remove dangerous Ollie Pope who stretched out to defend.

Pope scored 196 runs in the second innings of the Hyderabad to help England go past India's first innings lead of 190 runs and later win the match by 28 runs.

However, Pope could not capitalise on the opportunity and was clean bowled by Jasprit Bumrah in the 28th over. The England number three scored 23 runs off 55 balls during his stay.

But Srikar Bharat was slammed heavily for his fumble. Fans called him 'mediocre' and questioned his place in the Indian Test squad despite an abundance of options.

"Why is KS Bharat in the team? So many options starting from Kishan-Samson to veterans like Sheldon Jackson," a fan wrote.

Bharat's batting form while batting for India has also been under focus for some time now. He managed to score only 17 runs in the first innings. He got out for 28 during India's unsuccessful 231-run chase in their second innings of the Hyderabad Test. Bharat, who hit a hundred for India A recently, averages 22 after six Test matches.

Talking about the match, India were bowled out for 396 after a double hundred from Yashasvi Jaiswal who scored 209 runs off 290 balls. Anderson picked three wickets in the match. Spinners Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed also picked three wickets each.

In reply, England got off to a solid start and were cruising at 114/1. But Jasprit Bumrah brought India back in the contest with three wickets. At the time this article was published, England were reeling at 179/6.