The two warm-up games had answered many questions for Team India ahead of the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy. As Virat Kohli will be missing the last three Test matches while Rohit Sharma will be returning to play the last two matches, it was important for India to have clarity for the roles of players in the squad.
In Sydney, Shubman Gill had a sublime knock in the pink-ball game, Rahane and Pujara also had decent outings. At the same time, Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant scored centuries and thus, provided a case for their selection in India’s Playing XI for the first Test against Australia starting Thursday.
Aakash Chopra reckons that it was important for Hanuma Vihari to score runs. He praised his innings, which slowed down after the new ball was handed over to Australia. The renowned commentator feels that after Vihar could not get runs in the first-warm up game, it was important to add runs on the board with the pink ball.
“Hanuma Vihari made a century. The manner in which he played was very good. He did get a little slow towards the end but that’s absolutely fine because it was the second new ball which you need to respect.
“It is a very good thing that he scored runs because the last match was not that good for him,” Aakash Chopra stated.
Hanuma Vihari is going to play a huge role: Aakash Chopra
Considering the bowling line up of both the sides, Aakash Chopra feels that both India and Australia could suffer early jolts. He opines that when India will be under such a condition, Hanuma Vihari will be looked to make amends as he did in Sydney in the second encounter.
“It was necessary for him to score runs because it is possible that both the teams could lose the early wickets with the new ball, considering the opposition attacks.
“He is going to play a huge role in the context of the series. It is possible that you are 70/4, so in this situation who will save you, you will look towards Hanuma Vihari. So him getting the hundred was necessary although the spin bowling was very weak,”Aakash Chopra concluded.
Hanuma Vihari is likely to play at the number six spot for India, but when Kohli will depart, he might be promoted to the number four position. He will also play the role of a part-time spinner who could be used to provide some rest for the specialist bowlers.