Kona Srikar Bharat (born 3 October 1993) is an Indian international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays as a

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

batsman for the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Men in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council with T ...

and

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (ISO: , , AP) is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official lang ...

in domestic cricket. In February 2023, he made his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

debut for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In February 2015, he became the first wicket-keeper batsman to score a triple hundred in the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

. In seven Test matches he averages 20.09 with a highest score of 44.

Early life

K. S. Bharat was born in

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

on 3 October 1993 to Kona Srinivas Rao, a

master craftsman Historically, a master craftsman or master tradesman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster) was a member of a guild. The title survives as the highest professional qualification in craft industries. In the European guild#organization, gui ...

at the city's

naval dockyard A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

, and Manga Devi, a housewife. He studied at the St. Aloysius High School and graduated from Dr. Lankapalli Bullayya College with a

BCom A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bach ...

degree. Bharat began training with the Andhra Ranji Trophy squad at the age of 11. He was one of the

ball boy Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids, are individuals, usually human youths, but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tenn ...

s for the India-Pakistan ODI match at Visakhapatnam in 2005. He started keeping wickets at the age of 19.

Domestic and T20 franchise career

In February 2015, he became the first wicket-keeper batsman to score a triple hundred in the

. In 2015, he was signed up for 10 lakh by the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

franchise

Delhi Daredevils The Delhi Capitals, formerly the Delhi Daredevils, also known as DC, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Delhi that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by GMR Group and JSW Sports. Its home groun ...

. He did not get a game and was released ahead of the next season. In July 2018, he was named in the squad for India Blue for the

2018–19 Duleep Trophy The 2018–19 Duleep Trophy was the 57th season of the Duleep Trophy, a first-class cricket tournament in India, which took place in August and September 2018. India Red were the defending champions. All of the matches took place at the NPR C ...

. In February 2021, Bharat was bought by the

Royal Challengers Bangalore The Royal Challengers Bengaluru, formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore, also known as RCB, are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 ...

in the IPL auction ahead of the

2021 Indian Premier League The 2021 Indian Premier League (also known as IPL 14, or for sponsorship reasons, VIVO IPL 2021) was the fourteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricke ...

. He played several matches and gained popularity after his last-ball six against

Delhi Capitals The Delhi Capitals, formerly the Delhi Daredevils, also known as DC, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Delhi that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by GMR Group and JSW Sports. Its home groun ...

. In February 2022, he was bought by the

in the

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

for the

2022 Indian Premier League The 2022 Indian Premier League (also known as IPL 15 or for sponsorship reasons, TATA IPL 2022) was the fifteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket ...

for 2 crore. Like 2015, he did not get a game and was released for the next season. In December 2022, he was bought by the

Gujarat Titans The Gujarat Titans, also known as GT, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The home ground of the team is Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The franchise is o ...

in the

for the

2023 Indian Premier League The 2023 Indian Premier League (also known as Tata IPL 2023 for sponsorship reasons and sometimes referred to as IPL 2023 or IPL 16) was the 16th season of the Indian Premier League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league in India. It is organise ...

for 1.2 crore. In December 2023, he was brought by the

Kolkata Knight Riders The Kolkata Knight Riders, also known as KKR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla, and ...

for the

2024 Indian Premier League The 2024 Indian Premier League (also known as IPL 17 and branded as TATA IPL 2024) was the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League. The tournament featured ten teams competing in 74 matches from 22 March to 26 May 2024. It was held across 13 ...

for the base price of 50 lakh. He signed for Dulwich in the Premier Division of the

Surrey_Championship The Surrey Championship is a cricket organisation in Surrey running 6 divisions for 1st & 2nd XI cricket, 4 for 3rd XI and 4 for 4th XI. Since 2000 it has been a designated ECB Premier League.Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

squad for the second Test against Bangladesh, as cover for

Wriddhiman Saha Wriddhiman Saha (born 24 October 1984) is a former Indian cricketer who played for the national cricket team. He is the former first-class wicket-keeper of Bengal cricket team in domestic cricket and Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League ...

. In January 2020, he was added to Indian's squad for the

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) series against Australia, after

Rishabh Pant Rishabh Pant (; born 4 October 1997) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a wicket-keeper batter. He is currently the vice captain of Indian cricket team in the Test format. He captains and plays for th ...

suffered a concussion. In January 2021, he was named as one of five standby players in India's

squad for their series against England. In May 2021, Bharat was added to India's Test squad for their series against England as cover for

. In November 2021, Bharat took the field in the first Test for

against defending world test champions

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

during the New Zealand tour of India in 2021 as a replacement for the injured

. In the match he kept wicket and took 2 catches behind the

stumps In cricket, the stumps are the three vertical posts that support the bails and form the wicket. '' Stumping'' or ''being stumped'' is a method of dismissing a batsman. The umpire ''calling stumps'' means the play is over for the day. Part of ...

, also dismissing Tom Latham for 95 by

stumping Stumped is a method of Dismissal (cricket), dismissing a batter (cricket), batter in cricket, in which the wicket-keeper put down the wicket, puts down the wicket of the Glossary_of_cricket_terms#S, striker while the striker is out of their Bat ...

him off of

Axar Patel Akshar Rajeshbai Patel, known simply as Axar Patel, (born 20 January 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the national team in all formats of the game as an all-rounder as well as vice-captain of India in T20I format. He pla ...

's bowling. In February 2022, Bharat was named in India's Test squad for their series against Sri Lanka. In May 2022, he was again named in India's Test squad, this time for the rescheduled fifth Test against England. On 9 February 2023, Bharat made his Test debut against Australia at

Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium The New Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, also known as Jamtha Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. It is the second largest cricket stadium in India in terms of field area after the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Int ...

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

. In January 2024, he was selected in India's squad for the test series against England. In the first test, he scored 41 runs in the first innings and 28 runs in the second innings. He also effected 4 dismissals during the course of the match.

Personal life

Bharat married his longtime girlfriend, Anjali Nedunuri, in 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bharat, K. S. Indian cricketers Living people 1993 births Andhra cricketers Delhi Capitals cricketers Cricketers from Visakhapatnam India Red cricketers India Blue cricketers Indian A cricketers People from East Godavari district Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Wicket-keepers Telugu cricketers