Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara both were dropped from India’s Test squad following team’s defeat in South Africa earlier this year. While Pujara finds himself back in the mix for the lone England Test, Rahane finds himself dropped owing to his poor match form in IPL where he accounted for 133 runs in seven games for Kolkata Knight Riders. Furthermore, it seems Rahane will not play a Test match for India with Shreyas Iyer back in the mix, and former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has lauded the selectors for preferring the youngster over his senior Mumbai partner. He also backed the ouster of pacer Ishant Sharma, saying it was time that youth got the chance.
“I think it’s great that the selectors have dropped Rahane and Ishant Sharma from the Test team. They have been ageing and haven’t been performing of late. You need to get the youth in and rotate them so that they get to experience alongside those who are already experienced,” said Hogg on his YouTube channel.
Coming back to Iyer, the Mumbaikar scored a hundred on debut against New Zealand in November last year and he would look to make the most of challenging conditions in England. Hogg said Iyer would gain from batting with the likes of Virat Kohli in the middle. He also cited the inclusion of Prasidh Krishna who had shown good form in IPL. The lanky pacer can be effective in purchasing bounce and seam movement in England.
“Iyer is going to spend a number of years batting alongside Kohli, learning the game for the longer form and being able to develop a game plan where he is going to succeed. And then you’ve got Krishna, who will be coming up alongside Bumrah and Shami. So that is a good policy to rotate the players,” Hogg elaborated.
“With this Indian team going to England, bowling will be their strength. They will have Bumrah and Shami in the XI, but I would like to see Krishna too with his extra height and Siraj with his pace and a bit of movement. The only reason I have got Jadeja there is his batting depth.”
India take on England in the lone Test match which was abandoned after covid cases started to emerge in Indian camp.
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