Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer’s batsmen scored a century each during the two-match Test series against New Zealand. When Mayank was returning to Test cricket and scoring 150 runs in Mumbai, Iyer started with a century in the first innings and a half-century in the second at Kanpur.
On the other hand, India’s Test mainstays Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane continued their quest for big scores. Pujara has now played 40 innings without a Test century, Rahane’s last century came during the Australia tour in December 2020.
Together India Set to tour South Africa next, a country where they have never won a Test series before, there is a big question as to whether Pujara and Rahane should be an automatic choice, at least in the eleven if the team is not there.
Former England pacer Steve Harmison feels that for India to survive in South Africa where pacers call the shots, they will need in-form players and hence Iyer and Agarwal deserve to be in their playing XI.
Harmison said on his YouTube channel, “If you are going to go to South Africa and are up against Kagiso Rabada, Enrique Nortje and Lungi Ngidi, they need people in form. And the ones who are in form are Shreyas Iyer and Mayank. Agarwal. Rohit Sharma comes back so I will pick him and Agarwal to open. KL Rahul fits into that No. 3 spot. Then you have Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin, Shami, Siraj And there’s Bumrah.”
Clearly, Harmison does not think that India need to include in-form Pujara and Rahane in the XI as he feels that the performers should be rewarded.
“For me it will be a formidable team going from India. That team has runs, whatever surface you’re going to play on, there are definitely wickets. And you reward those who are in kind. Agarwal scored 100 more half-centuries. Shreyas Iyer has become the first player to score 100 more fifties on debut. I think those two guys have to play.”
The tour of South Africa begins on 26 December with a three-match Test series.
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