Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has said that he will prioritize Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul as the opening pair ahead of the Boxing Day Test against Australia starting on Thursday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). While Jaiswal has had ups and downs in this series apart from a majestic 161 in Perth, Rahul has been India’s best run-getter on the ongoing tour, scoring a staggering 235 in six innings. He averaged 47 runs, including two half-centuries.
Kaif expressed support for keeping the Jaiwal-Rahul duo at the top intact, despite various reports suggesting that Rohit Sharma would return to the opener and Rahul could be pushed to number three. did.
“KL Rahul is doing a great job, but Jaiswal also hit 100. When Jaiswal plays, India wins Test matches. He is a type of player similar to Sefag. When he plays, , he will dominate with such speed that he will pull away and win the Test match. Through him, India can get a lot of advantage from that.”
“So, I will keep Jaiswal there and KL Rahul will take his time and play with a proper opening partnership, ignoring the players who scored a lot of runs in Australia, England and South Africa. I can’t. He has scored runs on these bouncy pitches before so I want to prioritize him first,” Kaif said in a video posted on his ‘X’ account on Wednesday.
The five-match series is currently tied at 1-1, but Kaif believes the balance is still even and India will win the match in Melbourne if they get arch-rival Travis Head out soon. I think it can be done. At the same time, Kaif warned Indian batsmen about playing against seamer Scott Borland, who picked five wickets in Adelaide, which Australia won by 10 wickets.
“No, I believe the Test series is progressing at the same level. India’s batting is not in good form and there are many players who are out of form, but there is also an Australian team in the same boat. Travis Head If we do that, we can win the Test match because we have Bumrah. If Travis Head is out, the Indian team can win this series even if they are batting poorly. You can do it.”
“There is a big problem with their batting because the way their batsmen are batting, their openers are coming up behind them.Apart from Travis Head, Labuschagne was hit by Nitish Reddy outside the off-stump. So, in batting, the Australian team is far behind. In bowling, Boland will definitely take 2-3 wickets and trouble the Indian bowlers right now. I say it,” he concluded.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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