There is a lot of anticipation around India’s tour Down Under later this year, where Virat Kohli and company will face Australia in four Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is.
In particular, the fans are excited for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as it promises to throw up some mouth-watering contests.
While the Test series is still over four months away, the discussions regarding the team combination have already begun.
Recently, former India opener-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra opined that Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja will find it hard to be in the playing XI during the Test series.
“I feel neither of them might play. That is a very strong possibility. Because I feel that Hardik Pandya making it to the Test team doesn’t look possible to me currently,” Chopra said on his Youtube channel while answering a fan’s question whether Pandya and Jadeja fit into the team together in a Test in Australia.
“That is because he has a back injury, he has not started bowling, he has not played ODIs, he might play T20s but will you play him in Tests after playing in the IPL. Is he ready for Tests and does he want to play Tests currently? First thing first, I do not envisage Hardik Pandya playing the first Test match in Australia. That is what I feel,” he added.
As per Aakash, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav deserve a chance before Jadeja.
“I feel before Ravindra Jadeja, you might want to look at Ashwin and Kuldeep first. Because Kuldeep is a wrist-spinner and last time when he played in Australia, he took six wickets. After that you have not played him, so I feel he might get a chance there,” he said.
“How can you forget Ashwin, he could also get a chance. So I feel forget about Jaddu and Hardik playing together, their playing itself might not be a certainty when the team takes field against Australia later this year,” Chopra explained.
Apart from the all-rounders and spinners, there is also a debate over the openers and wicketkeeper. Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will fight for the two opening slots in Australia while Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant will battle it out for the wicketkeeper role.
There are way too many questions regarding team combination that needs to be fixed but luckily for India, there is plenty of time at hand to figure things out.
