Not Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill! Brad Hogg names 3 India players from Zimbabwe tour who can cement their place in main team
Published - 13 Jul 2024, 07:12 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:15 AM
![Brad Hogg, Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad](https://static.cricketaddictor.com/images/024/BradhoggShubmanGillRuturajGaikwad.jpeg?q=80)
Former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg named the three Indian players from the current Zimbabwe tour who came to make it into the main Indian team. He backed Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, and Khaleel Ahmed to make it into the senior team and cited the reason behind his choices.
The ongoing India tour to Zimbabwe has been a huge platform for all the youngsters to make their place in the side. Few of the young guns have already made a huge impact and have caught the eyeball of many with their performances in the series.
The likes of Abhishek Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Washington Sundar, and Ravi Bishnoi have been impressive. They have chipped in at crucial stages of the game and they would be eager to make an impact in the last two matches of the series as well, giving headaches to selectors.
According to Brad Hogg, Abhishek Sharma should be groomed because the left-hander is aggressive. However, the former Australian pointed out that the batter needs to be adaptable and should know how to bat in different positions. Speaking in a video posted on his Twitter account, he stated:
"India probably got their third team over there in Zimbabwe, but there are three players that I'm looking at. Abhishek Sharma, first up, opening batter, very dominant, very aggressive. He got a duck first game, and 100 in the second game. In the third game, he was pushed down the order. If he wants a long career for India in T20 and 50 over cricket, he has to learn to be adaptable and bat in different positions of the batting order."
Brad Hogg then went on to back Harshit Rana to make it into the senior Indian team. He cited that the pacer should be played ahead of Mukesh Kumar as he has a lot of things in his armory and is also handy with the bat. He added:
"Rahul Dravid has always said that if you're a batsman, you should be able to bat in different positions of the batting order. Then there's Harshit Rana, tall, quick, 22 years of age, hits the deck hard, gets the extra bounce on a good length, but also a good bouncer and a good yorker, can handle the bat, get him in there in front of Mukesh Kumar. He's got so much potential, and so much upside, and he's the future of the Indian pace attack. So give him more opportunity right now."
Harshit Rana is yet to get an opportunity in the ongoing series while on the other hand, Abhishek Sharma after scoring a duck in the first game slammed a century in the second match. In the third game, he couldn't make a bigger impact.
He's a good backup for Arshdeep Singh - Brad Hogg on Khaleel Ahmed
Brad Hogg also believes that Khaleel Ahmed should be amongst the players to watch out for. He pointed out that there should be a variation in the bowling attack. The former Australian feels that Khaleel can be a good backup for Arshdeep Singh. He elaborated:
"And the third one is Khaleel Ahmed, left armer, you need variation in your pace attack, he offers that, he gets the ball to swing, he's probably got a little bit more pace than Arshdeep Singh, but not quite as skilful, but he's a good backup for Arshdeep Singh if he gets injured.
"So those three players have got plenty of opportunity in Zimbabwe, and when it comes to them, they've got to make sure that they take it, and make sure they are improving in their skills to give them a better opportunity for India in the future," he concluded.
Tagged:
India National Cricket Team Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Brad Hogg Abhishek Sharma Khaleel Ahmed Harshit Rana Ruturaj Gaikwad Shubman Gill