After winning the first Test in Centurion, India saw a change in the fortunes as they not only went onto lose the Test series, they were also wiped out 0-3 in the ODI series. In recent times, India never had these sorts of defeats. Energy sapping, lackluster, and what not! Former cricketers and pundits want something to change as soon as possible; Gautam Gambhir has said the situation will be a lot different with Rohit Sharma back at the top. He also mentioned Ravindra Jadeja whose presence was clearly felt as India’s spin trio took a hit. Jadeja can also double up as an all-rounder. In South Africa, India’s alternative to Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer also had a less-than-ordinary debut.
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“Obviously Jadeja and Rohit will return. KL Rahul will be back in the middle order. Then India will look a much better team. Now, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will form the top 5 of the batting line-up. Jadeja will take the No.6 spot. There will be much more depth to the Indian team if you see Shardul at No.7,” he said on Star Sports.
Meanwhile, Prasidh Krishna, who was playing his first game in a while, also shone with the ball in the dead rubber at Newlands where he ended up picking up three wickets for 59 runs. Gambhir said he will continue to ‘persist’ with the bowler, adding that Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar must be used as bowling all-rounders under a rotation policy.
“I would want to persist with Prasidh Krishna for sure, irrespective of the conditions. Even Siraj… use these players. If Bumrah is rested for the next series which he should be, then Siraj and Krishna should be used in the West Indies series. And even if they concede a lot of runs, it won’t matter because they need experience. Deepak Chahar should also play. He can be rotated with Thakur,” he said.
With spinners failing to make any impact, voices were raised in favor of Kuldeep Yadav. However, Gambhir said India should not rush with the decision. “Not so fast. Because Kuldeep hasn’t been playing cricket that much. He should play domestic cricket, then IPL, then we can think about it. Jadeja and Axar are the options. I would also like to persist with Jayant Yadav. He didn’t perform poorly. He created two opportunities, although both the opportunities were let gone. So Jadeja, Jayant and Chahal can be the three spinners. Axar can be the extra spinner,” he said.
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