Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes Shreyas Iyer has all the pedigrees to replace Ajinkya Rahane in India’s Test playing XI. Iyer recently made his debut in the red-ball format in against New Zealand and displayed excellent application to be successfull at the highest stage.
He scored a century and a fifty in the 1st Test in Kanpur before playing another crucial knock in the 1st innings of the Mumbai Test. Ajinkya Rahane, on the other hand, has been jostling for form over the last 12 months. Ever since he scored a ton against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the right-handed batter has struggled for form.
Sachin Tendulkar said, "Shreyas Iyer was fantastic and made most of the opportunities he got. He played gem of an innings in the first Test and resulted in India almost winning the Test. Both his knocks were important". (To PTI).
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 4, 2021
As Shreyas Iyer continues to make a mark, Harbhajan Singh believes this is the right time to give the youngster a permanent berth in the Test side.
“Shreyas Iyer batted brilliantly in the last game and showed his talent. And I am so happy that he made the most of the opportunity in the middle order. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane is not scoring runs. Going forward, Iyer could be India’s perfect solution,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.
Harbhajan Singh also stated that Rahane may not be an automatic pick for India’s upcoming tour of South Africa keeping in mind his form. He also mentioned that the selectors may find it hard to ignore Iyer for the Test series against the Proteas.
“Don’t know if Rahane will be a part of the India squad for the South Africa series but Iyer, I feel, has made his case as a middle-order option. It will be interesting when the selection happens,” he added.
India and South Africa decides to play T20Is later
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have agreed to tweak with the schedule next month. They will play three Tests and the same number of ODIs starting from December 26 and have decided to play the T20I later.