Published: Dec 26, 2023, 11:18 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 26, 2023, 11:18 AM (IST)
Every time India visits a nation that is friendly to them, one of the most frequent arguments revolves around the number eight spot. Furthermore, the team administration has chosen Shardul Thakur above the highly seasoned Ravichandran Ashwin for the position, regardless of what legends and veterans may or may not say. The most recent instance was during the World Test Championship final between Australia and India at the Oval. Following India’s defeat, the cricket world questioned the rationale of excluding their top-ranked bowler and best wicket-taker. Though former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh acknowledges that captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid made the right decision back then, he believes that the squad should support Ashwin over Thakur on Tuesday in the Test series opener in Centurion against South Africa.
“The biggest debate is whether Shardul should play or Ashwin, this topic became a heated discussion during the World Test Championship. The conditions there were different because the ball seams on Day 1 so I feel Shardul was the right choice according to those conditions. There was a lot of grass on the wicket, even though he couldn’t make an impact I feel the decision was right,” said the Indian legend.
However, Harbhajan believes that India should play two spinners, with Ashwin being the backup option alongside Ravindra Jadeja, in the opening Test series against South Africa due to the lively Centurion pitch and the fact that South African hitters are accustomed to facing fast bowlers.
“But here, I feel the conditions will be hot, the pitch will be hard, the bounce will be there, and you have three pacers, so I think India should go with two spinners. I feel South Africa would love to face pace, so I think you should play to your strength. I feel Ashwin should play, but I don’t see that happening,” Harbhajan added.
The veteran off-spinner then went on to predict India’s playing XI for the series opener. He said: “According to me Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open. Shubman Gill would come in at number three and the fourth spot will be for Virat Kohli. The fifth and sixth spots belong to Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul respectively. For number seven Ravindra Jadeja but the biggest question comes at number 8 with Ashwin and Shardul available. I feel Ashwin should play at number 8 because you have Jasprit Bumrah for number 9, Siraj for 10 and Prasidh Krishna for 11.”
