Former India cricketer VVS Laxman opined that India captain Virat Kohli and coach Rahul Dravid will have to make some tough decisions when it comes to choosing the playing XI for the second Test against New Zealand which begins in Mumbai from December 3 onwards.
With Virat Kohli coming back into the XI, Team India management will need to make some changes in the batting order and Laxman suggested that they shouldn’t ignore Shreyas Iyer’s performance in the first Test in Kanpur, where he made 105 and 65 on his debut playing in place of Kohli.
Iyer's scintillating show on debut has raised a conundrum as with Kohli returning. Who drops out of playing eleven becomes the main question.
"Shreyas Iyer batted in both the innings and to get a hundred in his first Test series and then to follow it up with a fantastic half-century. Both these innings, mind you, have come when the team was under pressure, so it was a fantastic performance from Shreyas Iyer," said Laxman on Follow The Blues show on Star Sports.
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Laxman further opined on how the Indian batting order might turn out to be and mentioned that opener Mayank Agarwal might be the one to miss out given his underwhelming performance with the bat.
"It will be difficult, but I believe that Mayank Aggarwal in both the innings gave an underwhelming performance and was uncomfortable at the crease. Cheteshwar Pujara has the ability to open, he has opened the innings previously.
The No. 3 position can be filled by Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli can come at number 4 and Shreyas can come in at number 5 because how can you ignore his performance. So, I think it's a tough call that Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli have to take. I hope that they take the right decision and don't ignore the performance of Shreyas Iyer," Laxman added.
Indian captain Virat Kohli was rested for the T20I series and the first Test against New Zealand and Laxman picked him as the player to watch out for.
Laxman said: "I'm really looking forward to the return of Virat Kohli because we know that he missed the first Test and the T20 series. It has been some time since Virat Kohli got the three-figure mark in a Test match and we know what a quality player he is.
So, I am expecting him to straight away come, and create an impact because we know whenever he plays to his potential, he poses a lot of threat to any bowling unit. So, the player to watch out for me will be Virat Kohli."
(IANS inputs)
