Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has said that India captain Rohit Sharma will be under pressure given that he has rarely played Test cricket ever since becoming the captain of the team in all formats.
With India set to host Australia in the 1st Test of the action-packed Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Thursday, everyone is talking about which combination will the Indian team go and how it will be a big challenge for Rohit Sharma the captain as well.
Rohit Sharma replaced Virat Kohli as India’s all-format captain but has missed eight of India's last 10 Test matches. Most recently, he missed the Bangladesh Test series after breaking his thumb during the ODI series.
The former PCB chief also asserted that Indian skipper Rohit will be facing one of his biggest captaincy tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"Rohit Sharma's captaincy will be put to the test, there is no doubt about that. There isn't going to be a single session in the first Test where Australia won't fight hard. There won't be any flat sessions. The strategy needs to be full-proof and so does the selection. There also needs to be clarity over the conditions they want to trump Australia," Raja said on his YouTube channel.
Raja threw his weight behind the inclusion of Suryakumar Yadav in the Test team as well, saying that his batting will enable India to put pressure on Australia.
"India should play Suryakumar Yadav. He will generate pace with the bat. They have named a lot of T20 players in their squad for the first two Tests, which is good because action is what gets a thumbs-up from everyone in Test cricket these days. We saw how England scored 350-400 runs in a single day against Pakistan. The more pace you generate, the more pressure you can create. India have a great opportunity to create pressure," Raja said.
He further said that Australia will come hard at India as it is a big series for them, despite knowing that beating the hosts in their own backyard is near impossible.
Raja added: "Australia recently played a very gruelling Test series in Pakistan. It was a very tough series, with matches going on till the final day. They played the pressure points better than Pakistan in the last half an hour to win. Australians are known to create relentless pressure and will do the same in this series as well. They know that it is a very big series for them, as beating India at home is almost an impossible task.”
The first Test begins in Nagpur on February 9.
(Hindustan Times inputs)
