In five days, two superstar cricketers from India Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from Test cricket. Now, except Ravindra Jadeja, there is no senior player in the team who has played more than 60 Tests. In this case, the big question is, who will replace Rohit and Virat in Playing-11?
Who can replace Kohli?
Virat Kohli today announced his retirement from Test cricket on his Insta Handle. He is batting fourth in the team and is the most experienced member of the team. His departure will have a big loss for an experienced and strong medium -ranked batter. There are 5 contenders to fill this spot.
- Shreyas Iyer: Shreyas, who debuted in all three formats for India, is the No.1 contender for Kohli's place in the Test. He has fixed his place in the ODI team but is currently out due to poor performance in the Test. He has scored 1 century and 5 half centuries in 14 Tests. Shreyas also has 15 first class centuries.
- Rajat Patidar: Patidar took Kohli in the last Test series against England. Then Virat could not play the series for personal reasons. However, Patidar could not score a single Fifty in 3 matches. Considering his performance in domestic cricket, he can once again make it to the team for the England series. There are 13 first class centuries in the name of silver.
- Sarfraz Khan: Sarfraz, who made a Test debut for India last year, has scored 1 century and 3 half centuries. However, he did not have a chance to play in any match during his visit to Australia. Sarfraz has an average of 65.61 in first-class cricket. He is considered a specialist of domestic pitches, so it is difficult for him to replace Kohli in foreign conditions.
- Pole Jureel: 24 -year -old Jurell has played 4 Tests for India. During his visit to Australia, he also drawn the attention of the selectors with his technique. The young jurel also does wicketkeeping, which gives him more options to get involved in playing-11. Management can also invest in England tour.
- Karun Nair: Karun has also had experience playing in England, who caught the attention of everyone with his performance in the last season of domestic cricket. It is a good option in place of Kohli. In addition to scoring three centuries for India at home, it has also scored 23 first class centuries.
Who can replace Rohit?
Rohit Sharma retired from the Test on May 7. He has been opening in Red Ball cricket for the last 6 years. KL Rahul may be his permanent option in the opening position; Who opened with Yashwashi Jaiswal on a tour of Australia. Shubhman can also return to the opening. In addition, four more young players are contenders to replace Rohit.
Jadeja will save the only experienced player
After Rohit and Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja will survive the only senior player in the Test team, whose career is over 12 years. It is believed that if Jadeja does not retire from this format in 1-2 years, he will also be released like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.
Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Riddhiman Saha were also one of the players who were dropped from the team before retirement. Team India has begun investing in young players. In this case, number-1 test all-rounder may also be in trouble.
Gill and Pant Captain's contenders
According to the news agency PTI, 'Shubhman Gill can be made a Test team captain and Rishabh Pant to vice-captain. In view of Jasprit Bumrah's fitness, it is difficult to give him a leadership role. Sources in BCCI said that if Bumrah does not become a captain, it has no point in making it a vice-captain.
The tour of England will begin on June 20
Team India will play a 5 Test series in England from June 20. After Rohit's retirement, the team will play in the presence of a new captain. India's team is expected to be announced by May 23 for this series. This will be India's first series in the new bicycle of the World Test Championship.
Image Credit: Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).