When the IPL 2025 auction went unsold, KS Bharat will play club cricket in England.

KS Bharat, an Indian batsman and wicketkeeper, will play for the Dulwich Cricket Club in London during the 2025 Surrey Championship season. The Andhra Pradesh batsman has had difficulty finding a place for the Indian team in the red-ball format, despite having a respectable first-class record. In 105 first-class games, Bharat has amassed 5686 runs, including 10 hundreds and 32 fifties.

Even though Bharat’s chances of making a comeback internationally appear slim, the 31-year-old is working hard to establish himself in the format and is looking for chances to show off. Bharat will have the opportunity to create an impression and get the selectors’ notice at the division 1 Surrey Championship.

In 2024, KS Bharat played just the first two games of India’s five-match home series against England, which India won 4-1. This was Bharat’s final Test match for India. He has participated in seven Test matches overall, scoring 221 runs at an average of 20.09.

Notably, KS Bharat played for India in the 2023 World Test Championship final, which was defeated by Australia, captained by Pat Cummins, at the Oval. With Rishabh Pant’s comeback and the rise of the youthful and promising Dhruv Jurel, Bharat’s chances vanished.

KS Bharat did not sell at the IPL mega-auction.

In addition to being excluded from the Test squad, Bharat received no bidders at the IPL 2025 super auction in November of last year, despite having a base price of INR 75 lakh. He played for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in 2024 and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2023, and despite his respectable performances in the tournament, he was not sold in this season’s auction.

His finest franchise tournament performance came against the Delhi Capitals, as he scored an undefeated 78 off 52 deliveries to help RCB chase down a total of 165.