Former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir has come up with his suggestions of the ideal India XI ahead of the second test match in Melbourne starting from December 26. India lost the first test in Adelaide against Australia. They registered their lowest ever test score as they faced a batting collapse in the second innings. India will be without their skipper Virat Kohli in the final three Tests as Ajinkya Rahane will replace him as the stand-in skipper.
Meanwhile, talking to Star Sports Show Cricket Connected, Gautam Gambhir recommended a host of changes for the Indian team heading into the second test. He started by picking Shubman Gill over Prithvi Shaw and KL Rahul as Virat Kohli’s replacement.
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“I wanted Prithvi Shaw to start the series because if a player has scored a hundred and two fifties in four Test matches and hit a fifty in the last tough tour to New Zealand, then you start with him, no doubt the form was not good,” Gautam Gambhir said.
“But now in the type of form he is in, more than the form his confidence is very low, so I will want to see Shubman Gill at the top along with Mayank Agarwal and Pujara at No.3. I will want to see Rahane at No.4. I will not want to see Rahane stay at No.5 because if he is the captain now, he has to lead from the front. So, Rahane should play at No.4 in the place of Virat Kohli,” he added.
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Gambhir’s final two changes were Rishabh Pant for Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja for Hanuma Vihari. Both Vihari and Saha failed with the bat in both the innings of the Pink-Ball contest and the left-hander feels, both Jadeja and Pant can come in for the two of them.
In the process, Gautam Gambhir also said that Jadeja’s inclusion can help India go in with five bowlers with him and Ravichandran Ashwin being the two spinners along with the three pacers.
“KL Rahul should play at No.5 and Rishabh Pant should play at No.6. “Jadeja and Ashwin should play at No.7 and No.8 and then three seamers. I will want to go in with five bowlers,” Gambhir concluded.
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