The much hyped test series between India and Australia is slated to start from 6th December in Adelaide. Many cricket experts donned the prediction hat and predicted in the favour of India saying that Australia looks more than ordinary without the services of David Warner and Steve Smith who are facing a one year ban following the infamous sandpaper gate controversy.
Meanwhile, cricket experts have now started picking their playing XI for both the teams. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar also joined the huddle and picked his India playing XI for Adelaide test.
No Bhuvneshwar Kumar in Manjrekar’s playing XI
Manjrekar picked Prithvi Shaw to bat as the opener alongside KL Rahul or Murali Vijay, however Shaw has now been ruled out of the first test following ankle injury. It will be interesting to see if the former Mumbai batsman will go for the opening combination of KL Rahul and Murali Vijay.
Interestingly, Manjrekar picked seven specialist batsman in the team and went for Cheteshwar Pujara at number three followed by Virat Kohli at number four.
The 53-years-old is a big fan of Mumbai cricketers having himself played for Mumbai which made him stick with Ajinkya Rahane at number five and much debatable Rohit Sharma at number six.
Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant takes the number seven spot in his team.
If you have Rishabh Pant batting at No. 7 and you have six pure batsmen, you don’t need to pick a bowler because he bats a bit,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
Four specialists bowlers in Manjrekar playing XI
Manjrekar opted for only one spinner in the team which may be justified by the fact that Adelaide wicket may not offer much for the spinners expect the last day. He picked Ravichandran Ashwin as the lone spinner in the team.
Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are the three pacers in his team. The ousted of Bhuvneshwar Kumar may be a big surprise but he justified his pick by saying that the Uttar Pradesh bowler has not been in the best of form after the injury scare.
“Bhuvneshwar would not be in my XI for the first Test, purely because he would find it difficult to dislodge the three seamers who are likely to play in the first Test on current form, fitness, everything. Ishant Sharma was very consistent in England, so he is your perfect third seam option. Jasprit Bumrah is the leader of the attack. Mohammed Shami was pretty impressive in England, so Bhuvneshwar would find it difficult to dislodge these three,” he said.
