Former opener Gautam Gambhir said that India should change their team combination for upcoming second Test against Australia, playing five bowlers with stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane bating at the No 4.
India lost the series-opening day-night Test by eight wickets after collapsing to their lowest Test total of 36 in their second innings at the Adelaide Oval.
Rahane took charge after regular captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday left for India for the birth of his first child.
“I will want to see Rahane at number four. I will not want to him stay at number five because if he is the captain now, he has to lead from the front. So, Rahane should play at number four in place of Virat Kohli,” Gambhir said on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
For Ajinkya Rahane, a serious Test of his mettle awaits
The left-hander also batted for KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill’s inclusion in the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test, scheduled to be played in Melbourne from December 26-30.
“KL Rahul should play at number five and Rishabh Pant should play at number six. Jadeja and Ashwin should play at number seven and eight and then three seamers. I will want to go in with five bowlers,” said Gambhir.
“I wanted Prithvi Shaw to start the series because if a player has scored a hundred and two fifties in four Test matches and hit a fifty in the last tough tour to New Zealand, then you start with him, no doubt the form was not good.
“But now in the type of form, he is in, more than the form his confidence is very low, so I will want to see Shubman Gill at the top along with Mayank Agarwal and Pujara at number three.”