Published: Mar 19, 2025, 10:13 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 19, 2025, 10:13 AM (IST)
Despite India’s recent victory in ICC Champions Trophy 2025, former skipper Sourav Ganguly raised concerns over the Men in Blue’s Test side. The 52-year-old stated that India still have a few flaws in Test cricket, particularly in the batting department.
He added that players like Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant need to step up and post big scores in the red-ball format. Ganguly also stated that he does not see Virat Kohli failing in all 5 Tests against England.
Team India will tour England for a five-match Test series in June, which will be part of the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The Men in Blue’s last 2 Test series have been a major failure as they lost 0-3 at home to New Zealand before losing 3-1 against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar series.
“My only worry is that, other than Virat (Kohli) and Yashasvi (Jaiswal), not many average more than 40 away from home. If you want to be a good Test team, three or four of your top six batters must be averaging close to 50 in Test matches,” Ganguly told RevSportz.
“It is possible to transform our red-ball fortunes in England. You have to bat well. You look at the times India played their best away from home-it is when they put 400-500 runs on the board. You do not win Tests by scoring 200, 250, or 180. The reason they won in Perth was because they got 400 on the board,” Ganguly added.
“(Rishabh) Pant has got to bite the bullet and play the swinging ball. You cannot keep swinging all the time and expect to score runs in Test cricket. It is a mentality, determination, and grit. They have the talent. Virat Kohli is the best in the business. I do not see him failing in five Test matches in England. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, they need to step up,” Ganguly further said.
