IND vs SA | Would like to play Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, opines Aakash Chopra
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has revealed that he will prefer Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari ahead of Ajinkya Rahane in the team for the Centurion Test. Chopra also added that if the team wants to play with five bowlers in the series opener they can bring in Shardul Thakur in the team.
India are scheduled to tour South Africa starting from December 26 for three Tests. The team have started their preparations for the series opener at Centurion where Virat Kohli will lead the Test squad. The team management might face a selection dilemma while selecting the final team for the first Test with availability of too many options in the middle order. Plus they have decided whether they will go with four bowlers or will stick to the five bowlers combination.
Ajinkya Rahane is going through a lean patch and has also lost his vice-captaincy for the series. KL Rahul has replaced him as the vice-captain. Shreyas Iyer had an impressive debut against New Zealand becoming the first Indian to score a hundred and follow it up with a fifty on Test debut. Hanuma Vihari was sent on tour to South Africa where he scored three half-centuries for India A against South Africa A. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra revealed that he will prefer Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari ahead of Ajinkya Rahane.
"The biggest question for the Indian team is how many batters to play. I will not play Rahane even if you play six batters. I am going with Hanuma Vihari because you had sent him to South Africa, just to get some form and to get acclimatized, and he scored runs," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"You gave Shreyas Iyer a debut and he made a century and a fifty and consolidated his position. Rahane, of course, is the senior guy but he is no longer the vice-captain. I would like to play six batters, and I would like to play Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari.”
He further revealed his playing XI for the first Test against South Africa.
"In my opinion, the team should be Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, three fast bowlers - Shami, Bumrah and Siraj,” he revealed.
KL Rahul had recently hinted that the team will prefer to play with five bowlers in the team. Shardul Thakur might be one of the options in such a scenario as he can contribute with the bat as well as bowling. Thakur has taken 14 wickets from three Tests this year and has scored 232 runs. Chopra opined that India can include Shardul Thakur if they want to go with five bowlers in their lineup.
"KL Rahul said they wanted to play five bowlers. If you want to play five bowlers, you will play Shami, Bumrah, Siraj, you will have to play Shardul Thakur - you cannot go with two spinners, and Ravichandran Ashwin,” he concluded.
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