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Cricket Players'I don't see why he can't replace Pujara in the Playing XI': Gambhir identifies 27-year-old as India's 'perfect No. 3'
Gautam Gambhir has named India's 27-year-old batter as the ideal candidate to replace Cheteshwar Pujara in the Playing XI.
Cheteshwar Pujara's long rope with the Indian team has finally ended. The veteran batter, along with senior player Ajinkya Rahane, was dropped from India's Test squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka starting from March 4. In their place, the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill and Priyank Panchal have been preferred, signalling the dawn of a new era and a transformation period in Indian cricket.
With Pujara and Rahane no longer in fray to be part of India's Test Playing XI, it will be interesting to see their replacements at No. 3 and 5 for India. Weighing in on the same, former India batter Gautam Gambhir feels that 27-year-old Shreyas Iyer could be the ideal candidate to replace Pujara in the Playing XI.
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“He has been brilliant so far. He showed it during his innings against New Zealand. Not everyone can score a century in their first Test innings. He has got all the shots and has the temperament of a middle-order batter. He can build an innings well and play anchor. He can be the perfect No. 3 batter for India. I don't see why he can't replace Pujara in India's Playing XI," Gambhir had said during the Byju's Cricket Live show during the India vs South Africa series.
Iyer had a remarkable start to his Test career as he became the 16th player to score a century in his first Test match for India. He joined a list comprising Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Prithvi Shaw. Batting in place of Virat Kohli, who was rested for the first Test in Kanpur, Iyer scored 105 off 171 balls from No. 5, his knock consisting of 13 fours and two sixes. To increase his stocks even further, Iyer scored 65 in the second innings to with his century in the first dig even as the match ended in a draw.
India persisted with Iyer in the second Test at Kanpur, where he scored 18 and 14, but the knocks in Kanpur convinced everyone that Iyer belongs in the big league. Since the New Zealand Tests, Iyer has played five matches for India – four ODIs against South Africa, and a T20I and an ODI each against West Indies. In the second ODI in Ahmedabad, Iyer scored a scintillating 80 to bail his team out of trouble after India had been reduced to 43/3.
