India is looking forward to their next test series over the festive period, but a former hero has issued a stark warning to the team.
Indian cricket suffered a big blow this year, as they crumbled in the T20 World Cup hosted in UAE. A recent series win against New Zealand instilled some belief in the team as they look forward to the 2022 event in Australia, but long before that, there’s a huge test against South Africa.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India recently announced their 18-man squad for the test, which starts on December 26. Many senior players, who missed the New Zealand test, have been recalled, including KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami. The expectation is high, with the belief that they can pick themselves up from the T20 disappointment and focus on test cricket with a more positive outlook.
The Cricket World Cup is coming up in 2023 and is on home soil for India. They’re already ranked by Bwin as favorites for that tournament, but that will only increase the pressure for good test match outcomes in the interim period. Whilst home advantage will give them a boost; there is still work to do. Former batter VVS Laxman believes that the players are repeating past mistakes, despite their victory against the Black Caps.
“It’s very important not to repeat the same mistakes,” he is reported as saying by NDTV. “If you see the way Ajinkya Rahane got out in Kanpur, Pujara got out in Kanpur as well as in Mumbai, it’s almost like a pattern, which is developing. Even Shubman Gill after settling down, threw away his wicket.
“So, I just believe that it is about converting that start into a big score, which is very critical and as it is India plays with five genuine batsmen then you have your all-rounder in the form of Jadeja, you then have a wicket-keeper batsman.”
England and Australia make up the top three for the 2023 World Cup, and as they focus on the Ashes this winter. Still, Indian cricket fans will focus on Centurion Park, where they could put down a significant marker for the future, even with the World Cup 18 months away. However, those key players that have been recalled need to step up and produce the good, according to Laxman.
“The top five batsmen need to make it count once they spend time on the crease. Somewhere or the other I feel that the mistakes are being repeated and after getting set they are losing their wicket easily, which you cannot do because if you want to perform well against good teams and especially if you want to win against South Africa then as a batting unit you need to fire,”
Laxman knows a thing or two about test cricket; he is one of a handful of players to have played 100 Test matches but to have never appeared in a one-day Cricket World Cup game. In 2002, he was named one of the five cricketers of the year, retiring ten years later.
Whether the Indian batters take his advice is yet to be decided, but all eyes will be on their first day against South Africa on December 26.
