India are known for their solid batting line-up, but their batsmen could not live up to the expectations in the first Test against Australia in Pune. India scored 105 and 107 runs in the first and second innings respectively to suffer an embarrassing defeat of 333 runs, allowing Australia take 1-0 lead in the Test series.
Will Sachin Tendulkar's encouraging words lift Virat Kohli's team?
India, who had come into this series with some mammoth wins against New Zealand and England, had their tails up before any ball was bowled. But, Virat Kohli and his men were brought down to earth by Australia with their all-round cricket as the Aussies outplayed India in all departments. India will be keen to play better cricket in the second Test match in Bengaluru and make it 1-1 in the four-match Test series.
Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin feels there is a serious need for India to make some changes for the second Test in Bengaluru. India played with five regular spinners, but Azhar wants Virat Kohli to drop Jayant Yadav and play in-form Karun Nair, who scored a triple ton when he last played for India in a Test match against England.
"Going by their batting performance, I expect them to play an extra batsman -- that is Karun Nair. He should be replacing Jayant in all likelihood," Press Trust of India quoted Azhar as saying.
One is not sure if Kohli will play with six batsmen or not, but changes could be made for the Bangalore Test. With Ajinkya Rahane also failing in Pune against Australia, it remains to be seen if Kohli opts for Nair at Rahane's expense. Nair has been in good form and his triple ton against England showed that he has it in him to play world-class bowlers and score big runs at the international level too.
Azhar also feels that Ishant Sharma, who did not pick a single wicket in the first Test, should be benched. He believes Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the knack of taking wickets with his swing, and should be picked.
"Also on the tracks that we are playing, Ishant's back of the length stuff is not going to work. It is better that a swing bowler like Bhuvneshwar is brought into the team by Virat," Azhar said.
