Noting personal concerns, star Indian batsman Virat Kohli has chosen to miss the opening two Test matches against England. In Hyderabad, KL Rahul will bat in the middle order while KS Bharat holds the wickets. But with Virat Kohli in top form and a clear winner in the longest format of the game, his absence creates a significant hole in the batting lineup.
In light of that, former cricket player Sanjay Manjrekar said that Virat’s absence from the game raises doubts in the middle order. Despite this, he believes that the team captained by Rohit Sharma would win the home series because of their strong spinners. He pointed out that Rehan Ahmed had only played one Test match and Tom Hartley had only made his debut, indicating that England lacked experienced spinners.
“In my opinion, India ought to be permitted to rule at home once more. Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo, “Just that batting part, with Virat Kohli not playing, has become a little bit of a question mark.”
The 58-year-old further feels that since the visitors aren’t used to playing in these conditions, creating spin courses against England isn’t a gamble. He continued by saying that the hosts’ potent spin unit could cause England discomfort over the course of the five-match series.
“I don’t believe that preparing rank-turners is a gamble.” Given the caliber of India’s opposition, it is a pretty dependable strategy for winning games. Jack Leach and two or three more spinners are available for England; one has recently participated in a Test match, while the other two have not played for the national team.
Given England’s skill level, he continued, “it makes sense that India would want pitches that turn, especially with spin forces like Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin.”
As a result of Ashwin and Jadeja’s outstanding performance in the first session, India has chosen to have three spinners in its playing XI for the first Test.
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