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'If not in this series, his time will certainly come': Ex-India selector picks 3 future replacements for Pujara, Rahane
Pujara, who is yet to score a century since January 2019, is 33, same as Rahane, who has struggled to amass 644 runs in his last 15 Tests at 24.76.
Former national selector Jatin Paranjape on Monday picked three future replacement for Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in India's Test line-up. Pujara, who is yet to score a century since January 2019, is 33, same as Rahane, who has struggled to amass 644 runs in his last 15 Tests at 24.76.
""Look sooner or later, Cheteshwar and Ajju (Rahane) won't be playing. So, two out of three between Vihari, Shubman and Shreyas will grab those middle-order slots," said Paranjape in conversation with PTI.
While the other two have made their Test debut already, Iyer is yet to make his maiden appearance in the format. He has been added to the India squad for the impending two-Test series against New Zealand starting November 25 in Kanpur, which will kick off the second cycle of World Test Championship, as a middle-order specialist, but Paranjape feels that even if the Mumbaikar fails to make the playing XI in both the games, he won't be very disappointed as his time will eventually come.
"Even if, Shreyas doesn’t get an opportunity in this series, I won’t be very disheartened as his time will certainly come," Paranjape added.
Shubman Gill, who has opened for India in eight Tests, scoring 414 runs at 34.50 with three fifties, is being looked to fill a middle-order spot in the New Zealand Test series. And Paranjape, who was part of the selection panel that handed a Test debut to Gill in Australia, opines that it won't be a very bad idea.
"I am always a believer that rigidity in team selection doesn't help. I actually feel that playing Shubman as a middle-order batter will help the team. A certain amount of flexibility always helps," Paranjape said.
The idea behind putting Gill in the middle order would be provide solidity to the batting which will be without Rohi Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant and will have second-choice wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha to follow next. While Rohit and Pant have been rested from the series owing to workload management, Kohli will return to lead in the side in the second game.
Paranjape admitted that Gill, who previously opened for India, will be able to adapt to his new role given the conditions in India where much seam and swing can't be expected after a certain period of time.
"I don't think in India, it's going to make a lot of difference because overseas it's more of a specialised role – opener or middle-order. If they use Shubman in the middle-order, I believe it will work as the SG ball will lose its shine pretty quickly.
"In fact, if you see, KL Rahul had batted in the middle-order and had some success early in his career. Shubman can replicate that," Paranjape explained. "When you are a young player, the capability to adapt to various roles is much quicker than at later stages of your career when you have already played 50 Test matches."
