Rohit Sharma ahead of India-Australia test series© BCCI
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja said the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be a huge test for Rohit Sharma as captain, with his strategies and team selections proving to be the deciding factors in the series. India will take on Australia in the first Test match at Nagpur which starts on February 9 and Raja believes the hosts themselves need to have absolute clarity on the playing conditions to outsmart the visitors and clinch the much-anticipated series .
“Rohit Sharma’s captaincy will be tested, there is no doubt about that. There will not be a single session in the first Test where Australia will not fight hard. There will be no flat sessions. The “strategy must be completely watertight and so is the selection. There also needs to be clarity on the terms on which they want to surpass Australia,” Raja said on his official YouTube channel.
The Indian cricket team playing XI has been the point of contention for quite some time. While KL Rahul and Shubman Gill remain top picks to open the batting with skippered Rohit, Raja made it clear that Suryakumar Yadav must make his Test debut to keep the team line-up.
“India should play Suryakumar Yadav. He will generate pace with the bat. They have named a lot of T20 players in their squad for the first two Tests which is good because action is what gets a thumbs up from everyone in Test cricket this days. We saw England score 350-400 points in one day against Pakistan. The more speed you generate, the more pressure you can create. India has a great opportunity to create pressure,” Raja said.
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