(Cricket news) The 1st Test between India and Sri Lanka at Mohali will be a monumental one for multiple reasons. It will be Rohit Sharma's first Test as captain and it will also be Virat Kohli's 100th test. The big change however is in personnel as the selectors have dropped Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane after so many years. There are 2 spots in the Indian playing XI which are vacant at the moment and there are 3 strong candidates.
Shreyas Iyer is the one who is in the form of his life. In India's last home series against New Zealand, Iyer scored a century and a half century in the first Test which was also his debut. In the T20I series against Sri Lanka, Shreyas Iyer scored 200 plus runs without getting out in 3 innings. On form basis, Shreyas Iyer easily gets into the side but in the 2nd Test against South Africa where Virat Kohli was injured Hanuma Vihari was preferred over Iyer. The Mumbai batter is a very good player of spin which makes him a dangerous player in India.
Since making his debut in 2018, Hanuma Vihari has been a regular member of the squad. He was surprisingly dropped from India's last home series against New Zealand which is why Iyer got a chance to make his debut. Vihari has performed well for India whenever given a chance and surely deserves an opportunity. In his last Test innings against South Africa, Vihari batted with the tail in the 2nd innings and added 40 crucial runs to get India to a respectable total. Vihari has been waiting for his opportunity for a long time and as a Test specialist should be in the side.
Shubman Gill through no fault of his own will probably be the one to miss out. Gill made his debut in Australia and had a fantastic series. In the next series against England at home and in the World Test Championship, he didn't get too many runs. Before the England series the batter suffered an injury and only returned in the New Zealand series where he got 2 40s and one 50. He was once again ruled out with an injury before the South Africa tour. With KL Rahul returning to the Test set-up and Mayank Agarwal getting some of his form back, Gill has fallen down in the pecking order.
His future is said to be in the middle order but there too he has stiff competition. On pure talent bases Gill is definitely more talented then both Iyer and Vihari. While Iyer is in good form, his weakness against the short ball means that he may not be a long term option especially overseas which Gill definitely is. One thing is certain that India's middle order is going to chop and change a lot. With India only playing 3 tests in 2022 there will not be too much clarity as to what the middle order look like. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid could decide to abolish Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri's 5 bowler theory and go with 7 batters.
Also read: Rohit Sharma to begin Test captaincy reign against Sri Lanka in Mohali
