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The world is just sleep away from witnessing the high-octane slugfest of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 which is set to commence from February 9 (Thursday). Both the teams are grinding out to put up their best show in the opening match in Nagpur which will set the tone of the four-match Test series.
Meanwhile, right ahead of the all-important series which will be played between February 9 to March 13, former India's spin wizard Harbhajan Singh, in an exclusive interaction with Sports Tak, ruled out a big name while picking India's playing XI for the Nagpur Test. The Turbanator missed out India's vice-captain KL Rahul from Nagpur Test playing XI and instead suggested Suryakumar Yadav should be given a chance to make his Test debut given his proficiency to handle spinners.
The 42-year-old believes that Suryakumar should make his Test debut in the absence of injured players Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. The veteran also feels that the in-form star India opener Gill should open alongside Rohit Sharma for India in the four-match Test outing.
“If you want to give someone a chance to play at No. 5, there’s no better option than Suryakumar Yadav. If someone plays spin better, it’s SKY. He has a sweep shot and steps out well against spinners. When SKY plays in Ranji, he plays in the middle order. Play him at his spot,” Harbhajan told Sports Tak.
“KL, I love the way he bats. There is no doubt that he’s a quality batsman but in the present scenario if Shubman Gill doesn’t play then when? Ajinkya Rahane was also vice-captain previously. There were many vice-captains who are not in the team. The team is always the first priority than the individuals come in,” he added.
KL Rahul’s performance during the two-Test series against Bangladesh in December was underwhelming, as he only managed to score 57 runs. On the other hand, Shubman Gill was in impressive form, scoring a century in the first Test against Bangladesh. This contrast in form has drawn attention to the difference in their performances, with many cricket fans and experts talking about the possibility of changes to the Indian cricket team’s line-up.
Harbhajan also said that India's head coach Rahul Dravid should have sent Test players, including under-fire KL Rahul, to play in the Ranji Trophy ahead of the four-Test series.
“Rahul Dravid would agree that he should have sent the players to play Ranji Trophy ahead of the Test series. Their bodies could have adjusted accordingly after playing four-day cricket,” he concluded.
Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 schedule:
1st Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur - February 9-13
2nd Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi - February 17-21
3rd Test at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala - March 1-5
4th Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad - March 9-13
India’s squad for the first two Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia Test squad for India tour: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
