At present, the most talking point in cricket is Virat Kohli’s inclusion in the second test and question arises that who will be out in the playing XI for Mumbai Test. It is indeed a tricky question as Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s bad times are getting longer. Especially Rahane because his performance has declined significantly since the Melbourne Test. Even this year his average has come down to below 20 runs per innings.
As for Shreyas Iyer, I had said about him three years ago that one day he will be a part of the Test team. His body language is so positive that looking at him it seems that he will go a long way in the Test team. I also want to say for him on this platform that he will become the captain of Team India one day. I had predicted the players like Sehwag, Gambhir, Saurabh, Dravid, Yuvraj etc. at the time of playing for India A and their result is in front of you.
Actually Shreyas Iyer has scored a lot of runs in domestic cricket as well as his batting has been excellent in IPL. Seeing his dominance on the cricket field, it seems that there is no pressure on this player in the field. There is only a desire to perform well, which he seems to fulfill by putting good shots. Although some people may raise questions that Shreyas had come to Team India as a replacement.
Now when Virat comes, he should vacate the place but I don’t agree with that. Keeping him in the team will not only boost the morale of this player, but will also send a message that everyone wants to take forward the player who performs well. Though Karun Nair didn’t get chances despite scoring a triple century but it is equally true that you should have consistency at the national level but that was not seen in his performance.
In fast bowling, Ishant Sharma no longer appears to have the same stamina as before. This has been happening for quite some time now. I would not be surprised if Mohammad Siraj is seen bowling in the Mumbai Test.
The author has played 35 Tests and 59 ODIs for Team India as a left-arm spinner.