Team India faced a humiliating loss against England in their first of the four-match Test series at Chennai. England won the match by 227 runs handing India its first home Test loss in four years. Skipper Virat Kohli and CO. were left with no answers while facing the lethal attack of the English bowlers. The same Indian side who thrived with pride against Australia appeared as a fish out of water against England at home.
We at Stumpsandbails brings to you three changes team India should make in the second test.
Now, coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli have some crucial decisions to make before heading towards the second Test. Team India lacked the intensity and approach towards the game. Opener Rohit Sharma and middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane failed to stay on the pitch for a longer period. Spinner Shahbaz Nadeem couldn’t do justice to the Indian side with the bowl.
Let’s get started with the three changes team India should make in the second test,
- Mayank Agarwal for Rohit Sharma
Yes, we are aware of the fact that Mayank Agarwal had a poor series in Australia but that doesn’t alter the fact about the plethora of talent the 29-year-old possesses. As for Rohit Sharma, the ‘Hit-man’ of Indian cricket is in a terrible form in Test cricket. Rohit Sharma’s scores in his last 6 Test innings are 26, 52, 44, 7, 6, and 12 with an average of 24.50. The Indian side clearly needs a better number than this if they wish to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship finals against New Zealand.
Now, Rohit Sharma boasts some incredible Test records at home. But as surprising as it gets, Mayank Agarwal has a better home Test average while comparing it with Rohit Sharma. Here are the stats: Rohit has scored 6 hundred and averages 79.00 in 22 innings at home. In 6 innings at home, Mayank Agarwal has scored a total of 3 centuries, and 2 of them are double hundreds. Agarwal averages 99.50 on home soil.
2. KL Rahul for Ajinkya Rahane
This is a controversial take and many of you might not agree to it but Ajinkya Rahane has been highly inconsistent with his batting. Now we know that he led India to a historic win at Australia and also scored an incredible ton at Melbourne. But that does not change the fact that Rahane has failed time and again to come up with the goods with his bat for India.
Leaving his knock of 112 runs against Australia, Rahane’s highest score in his last 14 Test innings is 46. Adding to that, he has got out for less than 10 runs in 6 of his last 14 innings. Rahane averages just 37.35 at home, as compared to KL Rahul who averages at 44.25.
Rahul has a total of 9 fifty-plus scores in his 22 innings at home which means that he scores in 50+ in every 2.44 innings at home in Tests. As for Rahane, the right-handed batsman has 11 fifty-plus scores in 44 innings at home which means he gathers a fifty-plus score at home once every 4 innings.
3. Kuldeep Yadav for Shahbaz Nadeem
Now, this is something India should have opted for in the first Test itself. The Chinaman has done nothing wrong to be finding himself behind Nadeem in India’s pecking order. As for Nadeem, he was severly thrashed by the Englishmen in the first Test. The 31-year-old left-arm spinner bowled a total of 59 overs in the first Test and handed a total of 233 runs and picked up 4 wickets.
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