Team India are missing the services of star players like Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami in the ongoing Test series against England at home. While Kohli couldn’t participate due to ‘personal reasons’, Shami is still recovering from the ankle injury he sustained following the World Cup last year.
Moreover, the injuries haven’t helped India’s cause either. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and senior batter KL Rahul didn’t feature in the second Test in Vizag due to hamstring and quadriceps injuries.
While Ravindra Jadeja is set to return to the side in the third Test in Rajkot, Rahul is yet to regain complete fitness.
In the absence of Kohli, Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who has been dropped from the squad due to poor form, it will be interesting to see India’s playing combination in Rajkot.
Ahead of the game, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has voiced his support for uncapped Sarfaraz Khan, highlighting the Mumbai batter’s impressive numbers in domestic cricket.
Sarfaraz has been a prolific run-getter in first-class cricket over the years, amassing 3,912 runs from 45 matches at an average of 69.85 with 14 hundreds and 11 half-centuries.
“Yes, inexperienced batting lineup, but I think the quality that’s needed in this particular series are just Indian batters who play spin well. There’s where you think Sarfaraz Khan suddenly makes his case very strong. I would want Rajat Patidar as the incumbent to take that place at No. 4 and then have Sarfaraz Khan coming at No. 5 only on the basis that he was in the queue before,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
“The form that he’s had over the long term should count for something and have more weightage than Devdutt Padikkal, who had a great run of late. Enough indication that Sarfaraz Khan would be an interesting batter for India to have to challenge the English spinners. The better player of spin plays. I don’t think Padikkal being a left-hander will just further his case because India have Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal,” he added.
Manjrekar also batted for young wicketkeeper Dhruv Jure’s inclusion in the XI. KS Bharat featured in the first two Tests as a wicketkeeper-batter but failed to live up to the expectations, registering scores of 41, 28, 17 and 6.
“I think so (India should bring in Dhruv Jurel)… but I believe that it’s a very short-term sort of role that has to be filled before Rishabh Pant comes in and takes his rightful place. So, it’s a great time to look at another option."
"You’ve seen enough of KS Bharat now to see what he’s all about and what’s the return you get from investing in him. I find Dhruv Jurel a more exciting investment at this stage."
