Ahead of the second Test match between India and Australia, veteran Indian opener and World Cup hero, Gautam Gambhir has come up Gambhir feels that India would do well in the second Test match with a powerful bowling attack in Boxing Day Test.
Team India suffered a humiliating defeat in the series-opener by 8 wickets after the collapse of the batting line-up. Team India was bundled-up after scoring their lowest Test total of 36 runs in their second-inning at the Adelaide Oval. Talking on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’, Gambhir said:
“I wanted Prithvi Shaw to start the series because if a player has scored a hundred and two fifties in four Test matches and hit a fifty in the last tough tour to New Zealand, then you start with him, no doubt the form was not good.”
“But now in the type of form he is in, more than the form his confidence is very low, so I will want to see Shubman Gill at the top along with Mayank Agarwal and Pujara at No.3,”
The Indian cricket team will be without the services of the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli in the rest of the series, as he will be flying back home for the birth of his first child. Gautam Gambhir also opined that team India will do well with Ajinkya Rahane at number 4. He said:
“I will want to see Rahane at No.4. I will not want to see Rahane stay at No.5 because if he is the captain now, he has to lead from the front. So, Rahane should play at No.4 in the place of Virat Kohli. KL Rahul should play at No.5 and Rishabh Pant should play at No.6.”
As per reports, Ravindra Jadeja is likely to replace Hanuma Vihari in the Boxing Day Test if he is recovered fully from his hamstring injury. Gambhir picked Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin for number 7 and 8, followed by three seamers. He said:
“Jadeja and Ashwin should play at No.7 and No.8 and then three seamers. I will want to go in with five bowlers.”
Gautam Gambhir’s Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (C), KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini/Mohammed Siraj
