What Should Be The Lineup For The First Test?
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2020-12-14 07:35:31
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
With Rishabh Pant coming good in the practice match with a spectacular century, the team management in Australia is in a dilemma. Wriddhiman Saha was the first choice wicketkeeper for Test matches. But Pant's batting might give second thoughts to the management.
There is no doubt that Saha is the better of the two behind the wickets. In batting too, while Saha does not have the flamboyance of Pant, he is solid and dependable. Based purely on cricketing logic, Saha should get the nod.
But Australian tours are different. The team needs depth in batting as when the Australian pacers go on a rampage and the top order collapses, someone is needed lower down to put some runs on the board. In such a situation, the team would like to go with Pant.
But with Hanuma Vihari also coming good, that is one problem that should not crop up. The starting lineup for the first Test should read as follows: Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkye Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, R Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Md. Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
The lineup boasts of batsmen right up to R Ashwin (he has a century in Tests) at number nine. Of course it has only four frontline bowlers and can be seen as batsmen-heavy, but Hanuma Vihari can be expected to contribute with the ball too.
The changes, if any, should be dictated by the performance of the players in the first Test. The Kohli-Shastri team has often not kept the same team in consecutive matches and this time also it will not be different. With good bench strength, the team management should let the above lineup do duty in the first Test and decide on performance-based changes later. There is no doubt that the Australians start favourites, due mainly to home advantage, but both the teams are evenly matched on paper and exciting cricket is in the offing.
