ENG vs IND: Cheteshwar Pujara Should Open The Batting In Rohit Sharma's Absence - Graeme Swann
Published - 28 Jun 2022, 02:50 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:09 AM
Former England spinner Graeme Swann reckoned Cheteshwar Pujara to open India’s batting order in case Rohit Sharma is unavailable to play the fifth rescheduled Test against England.
After being dropped from the Test squad for the Sri Lanka series in March, Pujara returned to India’s squad for the fifth Test by bint of his success in county cricket for Sussex in April-May. Pujara scored 624 runs at an average of 124.80 in just seven innings for Sussex in the 2022 County Championship.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s numbers vs England
The Saurashtra batter has accumulated 1699 runs against England in 26 Tests at 39.51 with six half-centuries and three hundreds, he has scored more runs only against Australia – 1893 runs in 20 Tests. Pujara had a lean patch in the first two matches but scores of 91 and 61 regained his momentum.
Cheteshwar Pujara was phenomenal for Sussex: Graeme Swann
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19 on June 25 and is likely to miss the one-off Test in the England tour. Although India have added Mayank Agarwal as a cover for Rohit, Swann believes Pujara should open the innings along with Shubman Gill.
“Definitely having Cheteshwar Pujara played a lot of county cricket at the start of the year and do phenomenally well as he scored heaps of runs. He was phenomenal for Sussex, I think that is a massive bonus for India,” Swann said in a media interaction on Monday.
“Having a player who has been in England at the start of the season when the ball swings around, scoring so heavily and used to English conditions that definitely gives him leg up the ladder.
“I really like Mayank Agarwal, he is a wonderful player. I don’t think he is someone who has to open the batting so I would happily see Cheteshwar Pujara open the batting (if Rohit Sharma isn’t available), but it depends on Indian selectors if they want to or not and move everyone around him,” Swann added.
India are leading 2-1 in the five-match series and they will aim to win their first Test series in England since 2007. India will play England in the rescheduled fifth Test between July 1-5 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Also Read: IND vs ENG: Graeme Swann Bats For Ravichandran Ashwin To Start
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Graeme Swann India National Cricket Team India tour of England 2022 India vs England 2022 Rohit Sharma
