IND vs AUS | T20I series win will impact the Test series as well, feels Ashish Nehra
India will take on Australia in Test series from December 17 onward
|BCCI
Ashish Nehra is of the opinion that the T20I series win will have some impact on the Border-Gavaskar trophy as well, especially the mental aspect of the players. Notably, barring a few, there are no sure shot starters in the playing XI for the first Test from the second T20I Indian XI.
After former Aussie skipper Michael Clarke, Indian cricket expert Ashish Nehra has also opined that the preceding white-ball series in lead up to the four-match Test series can have an impact on the marquee Border-Gavaskar trophy, which is billed as the most awaited Test series of the year. After losing the ODI series 1-2, India have bounced back strongly in the T20I series, winning the first two games and taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. In fact, India have won each of their last three games in the ongoing tour to put their tour back on track after a listless start in Sydney in first two ODIs where bowlers were hit to every nook and corner of the ground.
However, while there will be major changes in the personnel in the four-match Test series, former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra feels that the T20I series win will impact Indian players mentally if not in any other way. He also added that barring Manish Pandey's entry into the XI, there should be no changes in the side, and the focus should be on whitewashing Australia.
"Australia were making big totals in the ODI series, so the T20I series win will surely have an impact on the Test series, however, little it might be. Yes, different players are playing this series but it will make a difference to players mentally if not anything. There is no need to rest any of the bowlers as they are not in the Test side be it Sundar, Natarajan, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur or Yuzvenvdra Chahal. Except for Manish Pandey, there can be no possible change, perhaps Virat Kohli can take rest himself and Pandey can be picked in place of him with KL Rahul as the captain but nothing else," Nehra said in a video uploaded by Cricbuzz.
Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra also echoed the same and reckoned apart from Manish Pandey, there is no room for any change in the side that India picked in the second game, which they won on back of T Natarajan and Hardik Pandya's heroics. He feels that the likes of Natarajan, Samson and Sundar should be given more chances.
"I won't change the side, barring Manish Pandey, no one else is there to be picked. He can be picked in place of Shreyas Iyer perhaps. Also, you cannot release any player be it Virat Kohli or KL Rahul as the India A vs Australia A warm-up game has already started. Winning 3-0 is always better than 2-0. It's time to keep testing players like Washington Sundar with the new ball, Natarajan in the death and Sanju Samson in the middle-order," Chopra asserted.
India will take on Australia in the third and final T20I tomorrow in Sydney before they lock horns with the hosts in the Test series starting from December 17 in Adelaide, which will be a day-night Test.
