England vs India 2018: Sourav Ganguly picks his Indian side for fifth Test
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes that Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari should make their Test debut in the fifth Test against England at The Oval. With the series already done and dusted, Ganguly has urged the team management to ring in the changes as the visitors look to finish their tour with a win.
Ganguly wants Prithvi Shaw in place of either Dhawan or Rahul and wants the team to try out Hanuma Vihari in place of Hardik Pandya and go in with just four bowlers.
In his column for the Times of India, Ganguly wrote, "What Virat needs to have a look at is his team's batting. It is important to have a change at the top and give Prithvi Shaw a go. He is young, not battle-scarred, and had a good India 'A' tour of England. Both KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are not in the best of form and it will not be a bad idea to have a change at the top."
While Ganguly admitted that the Indian bowling unit has been "exceptional", he also added that perhaps it wouldn't be the worst thing to go in with just four bowlers and see how it goes, especially with the team looking to start afresh at The Oval.
With that in mind, the former India captain believes that Hanuma Vihari deserves a spot in the side ahead of Hardik Pandya. "Good things have been said about him of late and this will also help to strengthen the squad's batting depth," Ganguly added.
The former India captain also added that the decision to bring in Ravindra Jadeja, who hasn't played a Test on this tour so far shouldn't be made hastily and just on the back of Moeen Ali's match-winning performance in the fourth Test.
"Yes, Moeen Ali bowled better than Ashwin in the fourth Test but that does not make Moeen ultimately a better bowler than Ashwin. It is important for Virat to ensure, first, that Ashwin in fully fit and then decide between him and Jadeja as to who the better option is," Ganguly added.
The final Test between India and England will be at The Oval and starts later today.