Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has shared his prediction on the Indian team's Playing XI for the first Test of the upcoming two-match series against South Africa. The match will be played
at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, as the Shubman Gill-led side will face a challenge from the reigning World Test Championship winners South Africa, led by Temba Bavuma.
Nayar has opted for the hosts to go with the second wicketkeeper in the form of Dhruv Jurel. He feels that Jurel showed a great sign of impression with his twin centuries for India 'A' in Bengaluru during the recently-concluded second four-day fixture. As a result, Jurel has been added to the Playing XI in addition to vice-captain Rishabh Pant by Nayar in his team combination for the Kolkata encounter.
"I would want to if you have persisted with someone for so long. Dhruv Jurel has been fantastic, got a hundred against the West Indies, two back-to-back hundreds now playing for India A vs South Africa A, so terrific, but I want to position him in a place where he can succeed," Nayar said via Star Sports.
Extra batter over Kuldeep Yadav
While Jurel is a much-accomplished as a batter, the former Mumbai all-rounder also feels that Ravindra Jadeja should bat ahead of the stumper-batter, purely on the basis of the form he has shown of late. However, Jadeja is the only spinner he picked, ignoring the likes of star spinner Kuldeep Yadav as well as the spin-bowling all-rounders Washington Sundar and Axar Patel. He picked Nitish Kumar Reddy in his set-up.
"Ravindra Jadeja at No. 6. For me, No. 7 in these conditions, I would look for a Dhruv Jurel because he is in that sort of form. I would want him to be part of the setup. Unfortunately, everyone is going to be like damn, a Kuldeep Yadav may have to miss out in this setup for me," Nayar added.
"In these conditions, considering how challenging it is going to be for the batters, I would want that extra surety with a batter and a seamer. So Nitish Reddy comes in and then you have my three seamers in that team. That's the kind of setup I would go for," the cricketer-turned-commentator observed.
Abhishek Nayar's India Playing XI for first Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
