The Men in Blue will play back-to-back series this year, and the schedule is jam-packed. However, there are not a lot of red-ball games. They will mostly play ODIs and T20Is. But the rescheduled test match of last year against England is scheduled for June 1 to June 5.
The Indian team will fly to the UK for the tour of the Netherlands and England. The 17-member test squad has been announced and India has gone for the full strength team. Notably, India is leading the five-match series 2-1. So with this match, they would like to win and win the series as well.
Hanuma Vihari, who did a fairly decent job in the home series against Sri Lanka in the absence of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, is also part of the team. But as the veteran Indian batsman, Pujara, is back in the team, it will be a big question where Vihari bats in the middle-order.
Vihari has been a part of the Indian set-up since 2018 and made his debut almost four years ago against England. However, he is still not getting regular opportunities. So far, the 20-year-old has represented India in just 15 matches. He has scored a total of 808 runs at an average of 35.13, with five half-centuries and one century. Vihari was one of the reasons for the famous draw against Australia in Sydney last year.
“Scoring only 50s and 60s is not really going to help him” – Mohammed Azharuddin
Some of the primary reasons for his lack of regular opportunities are injuries and the presence of senior players in the team. The former Indian skipper, Mohammed Azharuddin, also feels the same and has given him advice. During a discussion with Khaleej Times on Thursday, he said that Vihari needs to pay some significant innings if he wants to feature in the playing XI. Azharuddin added,
“He has to score hundreds to grab the chance. Scoring only 50s and 60s is not really going to help him. He is an outstanding player. But you can play for India for a long time only when you get the big runs consistently.”
After the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, India will play a five-match T20I home series against South Africa. The first match will start on June 09, and the last T20I will kick off on June 19. After that, India will fly to the UK to play a series against the Netherlands and England.
India’s Test squad vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (vc) Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Prasidh Krishna