'They haven't been performing' - Brad Hogg lauds BCCI for axing Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane from Test squad

Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has lauded the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for removing “aging” players like Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma from the Indian squad slated to play the rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

To note, the visitors are currently leading the inconclusive Test series by 2-1 with one Test match to be played between July 1 and 5. BCCI recently announced the Indian squad for the England tour, which has some talented youngsters like Prasidh Krishna and KS Bharat. At the same time, the board has also overlooked veteran duo of Ishant Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane.

You have got to move on and bring youth: Brad Hogg

“I think it’s great that the selectors have removed Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma from the Test team. They have been aging and haven’t been performing to the best of their abilities of late. You’ve got to move on and bring youth in and rotate them so that they get to experience alongside those who are already experienced,” Hogg said during a Q&A session on his YouTube channel.

“(Shreyas) Iyer is going to spend a number of years batting alongside (Virat) Kohli, learning the game for the longer form and being able to develop a game plan where he is going to succeed. And then you’ve got (Prasidh) Krishna, who will be coming up alongside Bumrah and Shami. So that is a good policy to rotate the players,” he added.

As mentioned above, Team India leads the five-match series 2-1 and just needs to avoid a loss to complete a historic series victory. Apart from the one-off Test, the Men in Blue will take on England in the white ball series as well. At first, India will take on England in a three-match T20I series slated to start on July 7 (Thursday). The focus will then shift to a three-match ODI series to be played from July 12 (Tuesday).