India’s record which saw them overcome Australia by 295 runs at Perth has left the managers in a quandary on whom to select. India’s playing XI for the first Test of the series did not have joint veterans Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja, as Harshit Rana was preferred over Akash Deep. As experts deliberate on the lines that would be drawn in India’s team for the day-night Test in Adelaide, Cheteshwar Pujara cautioned against tampering with the bowling unit.
Pujara feels both Ashwin and Jadeja should warm the bench for the pink-ball Test too.
India are set to see some alterations in the team as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are likely to be included in place of Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel. But, according to Pujara, the same bowling lineup should be retained.
“There isn’t any doubt about it. This bowling attack has paved us the road to success. (Jasprit) Bumrah looked really good, (Mohammed) Siraj was very good and then it was supported by Harshit (Rana). He bowled really well. You have to accept. He was playing his first game and still he ended up pitching the ball up,” said Pujara to ESPNcricinfo when asked whether India should be retaining the bowling line-up for pink-ball Adelaide Test against Australia.
“In Australia, it’s very easy to get carried away and sometimes when you look at the pace of the pitch, it offers a bit more extra bounce but he (Rana) was still looking to hit the right spot, good length, trying to hit the top of off and he has that ability, so I think we should carry on with the same bowling attack,” he added.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar were preferred for the all-rounders’ roles in the team, keeping Ashwin and Jadeja at bay. Pujara believes these two provide the balance to the team, so they need to be there.
“And in that, Nitish Kumar (Reddy). He had his share of bowling, I felt, four bowlers-four seamers are proper options and it was really interesting that he was added to this cadre.
I think he didn’t look really good when he started bowling, but finally, he picked up a couple of wickets; he varied his pace. So he should be with the justification of us being a spinner as he is one who can bat well. He got a place in this squad as he can bat and that will play the most important part in the second Test match. That in case we down a few wickets early, if the lower middle-order needs to contribute, Washington can do just that,” he explained.
