3 bold moves India should make in the final test
Despite showing up some good fight, India found out a way to lose at Edgbaston by 31 runs and at Southampton by 60 runs. Now the series is already lost so it's time for the Indian team to try out some new faces and new approach. Virat Kohli is always known for playing it bold. So I am expecting the below mentioned 3 moves to happen.
#1 Completely fresh opening pair
India have tried out three different opening combination in the series, Vijay-Dhawan,Vijay-Rahul, and Dhawan-Rahul. None of them worked. Vijay scored 26 in the two Tests he played, Rahul scored 113 runs in 8 innings and Dhawan scored 158 in his 6 innings. Ashwin averages better than the three openers in the series.
How about trying a completely new opening pair in the form of Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant! Rishabh Pant has looked clueless in the lower middle order. He is used to playing at the top of the order at the domestic level and had a lot of success batting there. So why not let him bat in his comfort zone. Also for years, we have been missing the aggressiveness at the top after the retirement of Virender Sehwag. Maybe Pant could provide that.
On the other hand, Prithvi Shaw had done extremely good at the first class level. So far in the 13 first-class games, he has made 1398 runs at an average of 60.78 with 7 hundreds and 5 fifties.
A 20-year-old Rishabh Pant and an 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw opening the batting at the Kennington Oval, London is not going to be any worse than what we have got till now from the experienced openers.
Ravindra Jadeja in place of Ashwin
This one looks inevitable as reports have been suggesting that Ashwin is injured. Ashwin has not impressed in the series so far. He has not been able to live up to the faith that his skipper had shown on him. In the fifth Test, Ravindra Jadeja should play.
Although we never know with this Indian team management as they may even go for Kuldeep Yadav. But that should not happen. Jadeja brings a lot to the team than Kuldeep. His batting skills and fielding skills come in handy in any situation.
Karun Nair in place of Hardik Pandya
"No more of Hardik Pandya. Please Virat". The all-rounder did produce a match-winning bowling spell in the 3rd Test with a 5/28 and scored a 52 not out in the same match. But apart from that, there has been nothing else to talk. Four matches in the series and he has performed well in just the one match. If he gets selected for the next Test match, it will not go down well with the fans and cricket experts.
The option to the Hardik dilemma is a 6th specialist batsman in the team and that 6th batsman should be Karun Nair. Apart from the triple ton against the same opposition Nair hasn't done anything since. But instead of trying a half-batsman half-bowler, why not try out a full batsman. So Karun Nair should play the 5th Test.