Former cricketer Deep Dasgupta suggested that India should think ‘out of the box’ and recommended that Indian skipper Rohit Sharma should bat at No. 4 in the second Test against England.
Dasgupta named his Indian playing XI with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill as the openers. He also opined on the inclusion of both Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar in the playing XI to enhance the spin attack for the hosts.
Washington Sundar has been called to the team after the injuries of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja for which both the players are now out of the team.
“I want Rohit (Sharma) to bat at No. 4. It is slightly out of the box and I will go in with four spinners, which will have both Washington (Sundar) and Kuldeep (Yadav). I will play one less seamer,” Dasgupta said while having a conversation on his official YouTube channel.
India has also added Sarfaraz Khan into their squad but Dasgupta supported Rajat Patidar to play ahead of the Mumbai batter. Patidar was selected for the first two matches after Virat Kohli’s withdrawal due to ‘personal reasons.’
“Now let me quickly go through the playing XI. If I get Shubman (Gill) and Yashasvi (Jaiswal) to open, (Rajat) Patidar plays at No. 3 because that is where he plays. Rohit plays at No. 4 and Shreyas (Iyer) at No. 5,” he said.
“You can keep a left-hander in Washington at No. 6 because it is important to have a left-hander, which we saw in the last match as well. So, Washington at No. 6,” Dasgupta said.
“(Ravi) Ashwin at No. 7, Kona (Bharat) at No. 8, Axar (Patel) at No. 9, Kuldeep at No. 10, and (Jasprit) Bumrah at No. 11. So, Bumrah will be the only seamer,” he added.
Deep Dasgupta India’s XI For The 2nd Test Against England
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravi Ashwin, Kona Bharat, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
