India vs Sri Lanka: The Mohali Test match Will be a special occasion as it will be Rohit Sharma’s first Test match As Indian captain and Virat Kohli’s 100th test match.
Former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has named the 11 players he thinks should be part of India playing 11 for the first Test against Sri Lanka, that begins Friday in Mohali. Speaking to Sports Tak, Gavaskar picked his Team India 11 for the upcoming clash and decided to pick three seamers and two spinners in the line-up.
When asked about his XI Gavaskar said, “Rohit (Sharma), Mayank (Agarwal), (Hanuma) Vihari, (Virat) Kohli, Shreyas (Iyer), (Rishabh) Pant, (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Ravichandran) Ashwin, (Mohammed) Shami, (Jasprit) Bumrah, Umesh (Yadav).”
Gavaskar in the initial part of the chat mentioned that the pitch square looked quite green and said that there are chances of the surface helping seamers. He further highlighted the fact that captain Rohit Sharma in the pre-match press conference has called it a typical Mohali wicket, which meant that the pitch could help the seamers in the first session with bounce and carry.
It will be interesting to see the make up of India’s playing XI as the Indians have often relied on an extra spinner in home conditions to get the better of the opposition.
“I think India should play three fast bowlers because the Mohali pitch always helps seamers. Also, we are playing against Sri Lanka, who are better players of spin than pace bowling. They are used to playing spinners and that is why I think two spinners is enough,” Gavaskar said while explaining why he has picked three seamers and two spinners.
The Mohali Test match will be a special occasion as it will be Rohit Sharma’s first Test as Indian captain and Virat Kohli’s 100th Test match.
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India vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test: Sunil Gavaskar Picks India XI For Mohali Test, Leaves Out Young Batter
India vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test: Sunil Gavaskar Picks India XI For Mohali Test, Leaves Out Young Batter.
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar picked his Team India 11 for the upcoming clash(India vs Sri Lanka). Speaking to Sports Talk, Gavaskar laid out this final Indian XI which according to him could line-up for the first Test. In the list, he decided to leave out young batter Shubman Gill at the expense of batters like Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari. Gavaskar said that Gill’s lack of match practice was the primary reason why he decided to not pick him.
When asked about his XI Gavaskar said, “Rohit (Sharma), Mayank (Agarwal), (Hanuma) Vihari, (Virat) Kohli, Shreyas (Iyer), (Rishabh) Pant, (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Ravichandran) Ashwin, (Mohammed) Shami, (Jasprit) Bumrah, Umesh (Yadav)
“He has not played any international matches for some time. He has no match practice as he hasn’t even played in the Ranji Trophy. If you have to play for the Indian team, then you need to have some practice under your belt. Yes, he has a lot of ability and there are no questions about that but form is also important,” he said.
Gavaskar went ahead with Mayank due to his consistent outings in the past at home and also his knack of scoring “big runs” in Indian conditions.
“Mayank Agarwal should open because he always gets big runs when playing at home. He might not have scored a lot of runs away from home but he scores big centuries when he plays in India. And I have chosen Hanuma Vihari at number 3 because he batted so well in the one opportunity he got in South Africa. He batted so well with the lower order batters and he should get an opportunity,” he added.
Speaking about Shreyas, Gavaskar sounded extremely sure about the in-form batter’s presence in the playing XI due to his brilliant start to Test cricket in recent times.
“Shreyas Iyer is in great form as he showed in the T20I series and he also made a great start to his Test career against New Zealand. So, I think this should be our top 5 for the match.”
