India will take on Sri Lanka in the first Test of the three-match series at Galle from Wednesday, 12 August. There are a lot of expectations from the batsmen as well as the bowlers of this young fancy Indian side as they set out to end their 22-year-old trophy drought in the Lankan island in the longest format of the international game.
Former Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has said that he would prefer Virat Kohli to come in at number three replacing Rohit Sharma in the forthcoming Test series.
Much have been spoken about who would come in at the third position, which is equally important in all formats of the game. The cricket experts have backed Rohit Sharma to come in at the position and so did the interim coach of Team India, Ravi Shastri. But Gavaskar seemed to have a different opinion about the line-up.
"Rohit is a better choice over Pujara but I feel Virat should bat at No. 3. That way, he can set the agenda for the rest," Gavaskar said in an interview to NDTV on Tuesday.
Murali Vijay will not be playing and Shastri has confirmed this piece of news on Monday at the press conference. This would mean KL Rahul would get the edge over Cheteshwar Pujara, who has been struggling to get runs in this format of the game. But the choice of Sharma seems to be better as the critics have suggested that he needs one big score and he will be up and running again.
Gavaskar has also stressed on the fact that India cannot lose the first Test and if they do, it will hamper their momentum.
"Don't lose the first Test. You always play catch-up after that. The Australia series [referring to Australia's loss in the Ashes] was a lesson. Having said that, Sri Lanka are vulnerable. There is pressure on them as they want to give Kumar Sangakkara a fitting farewell. Aggression mixed with practicality is acceptable. I think that will be critical for India," Gavaskar added.
