London, Feb 1
Ahead of the 2nd Test between India and England, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has shown his worries over home team’s weak batting lineup. For the uninitiated, Virat Kohli is skipping the 2nd Test too as he has taken a break from international cricket due to personal reasons.
KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja are out due to injuries. On top of that, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill are going through a lean patch. Harbhajan underlined the same during his analysis on YouTube ahead of the Vizag Test starting February 2, saying that the next best batter for India today after Rohit Sharma is R Ashwin.
“The team looks decent, but lacks experience. Yes, there is Rohit Sharma, but the next best run-scorer is Ashwin. In terms of batting, the line-up looks weak. And if they play on a turning track, which I feel they will because they have added Washington Sundar while having Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin and Axar Patel,” Harbhajan said.
Bhajji, as he is popularly called, also said that making a turning pitch could end up hurting India more than England. “I fear India don’t end up losing after making a turning pitch for England. This batting unit is young, they need time, and if they get a good track, they might even perform well,” he added.
It will be interesting to hear what Rohit Sharma has to say on the playing 11 as well as the pitch for the 2nd Test. Batting coach Vikram Rathour did not reveal anything related to the team for the Vizag match but said that it will be a tough call between Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar to choose from if only of them are to be played in the 2nd Test. The question in front of Dravid and Rohit is that: Can they drop both Iyer and Gill – a relatively experienced batters – for Sarfaraz and Patidar? One of them playing looks like a surety but will both of them be accomodated? What is a bigger risk? Playing two out-of-form batters or playing two new faces. These questions will haunt the management till tomorrow. Picking his playing 11, Harbhajan has opted for Sarfaraz to replace Rahul and Washington Sundar to play in place of Ravindra Jadeja.
Harbhajan Singh’s India playing XI for second Test match against England: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, KS Bharat, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav/ Mohammed Siraj.
