Former India captain and great batsman Sunil Gavaskar© AFP
Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar has named 11 players he feels should be part of India’s 11-player for the first Test against Sri Lanka. Starting Friday in Mohali, talking to till the gameGavaskar picked his team India 11 for the upcoming clash and decided to pick three fast bowlers and two spinners in the line-up.
When asked about his XI, Gavaskar said, “Rohit (Sharma), Mayank (Agarwal), (Hanuma) Vihari, (Virat) Kohli, Shreyas (Iyer), (Rishabh) Pant, (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Ravichandran) ) Ashwin, (Mohammed) Shami, (Jasprit) Bumrah, Umesh (Yadav).”
Gavaskar mentioned in the opening part of the chat that the pitch square looked quite green and added that the surface is likely to help the fast bowlers. He further highlighted the fact that skipper Rohit Sharma called it a typical Mohali wicket in the pre-match press conference, meaning the pitch could help the seamer with bounce and carry in the first session.
The make-up of India’s playing XI will be interesting to watch as Indians have often relied on an extra spinner in home conditions to better the opposition.
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“I think India should play three fast bowlers because the Mohali pitch always helps the fast bowlers. Also, we are playing against Sri Lanka, who have better players of spin than the pacers. They are spinners. So I think having two spinners is enough,” Gavaskar explained why he has picked three fast bowlers and two spinners.
The Mohali Test match will be a special occasion as it will be Rohit Sharma’s first Test as Indian captain and Virat Kohli’s 100th Test match.
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