Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg said that India’s big three Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara have to find their mojo back in the one-off Test against England to give India a chance to win it. The batting trio has not been at their best in the recent outings for India. However, Pujara found his form back in his recent stint in County Cricket but Kohli and Rohit had tough times in the IPL 2022 for their teams.
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“Looking at this team going to England, bowling is the strength of India. They’re definitely going to have Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in the attack, but I would like to see Krishan alongside Siraj as well. You’ve got Krishna with the extra height, Siraj with a bit of extra pace as well as moving the ball. I think that would be a great combination with Jadeja being the only spinner. The batting is going to be the weak part. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara aren’t in the good nick at the present moment. They have got to find that touch to give India a chance to win the one-off Test. Your bowling is a strength and that’s gonna keep you in the contest the batting got to stand up,” Hogg said on his Youtube channel.
Hogg feels that the Team India selectors had made a great call by snubbing Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma from the Test team. Ageing stars Rahane and Ishant missed out on places in India’s tour of England where the visitors will look to complete the unfinished business in the lone Test of the last year’s series which was postponed for 2022.
Rahane has not been at his best with the bat in the past couple of years, while the emergence of the young Indian pacers has put Ishant’s position under threat.
Hogg said that the two veterans have been ageing and it’s time for India to bring in the young players to help them gain some experience.
“I think it’s great that the selectors have removed Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma from the Test team. They have been ageing and haven’t been performing to the best of their abilities of late. You’ve got to move on and bring youth in and rotate them so that they get experience alongside those who are already experienced,” Hogg said during a Q&A session.
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The former Aussie spinner further talked about Shreyas Iyer who started his Test career with some impactful knocks against New Zealand and Sri Lanka earlier this year.
“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,” he added.
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