India should be careful of not falling into their own trap by preparing turning wicket: Harbhajan Singh

Team India have a lot of thinking to do heading into the second Test against England beginning from Friday, February 02 at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. After losing the first Test by 28 runs, India suffered another major blow as all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batter KL Rahul were ruled out of the second game due to injuries.

With Virat Kohli also not playing in the first two Tests due to personal reasons, the Indian batting lineup is looking worrisome, according to the former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. The 43-year-old highlighted India’s weakness by stating that after Rohit Sharma only Ravichandran Ashwin is the next-best scorer in the current squad.

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"The team looks decent but lacks experience. Yes, there is Rohit Sharma, but the next best run-scorer is Ashwin. In terms of batting, the line-up looks weak. And if they play on a turning track, which I feel they will because they have added Washington Sundar while having Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin and Axar Patel," said Harbhajan on his Youtube Channel.

Notably, the combined runs of India’s squad for the second Test are even less than star England batter Joe Root’s Test numbers who has 11,447 runs to his name. On the other hand, India’s squad has 10,702 runs in total.

Harbhajan further warned India of falling into their own trap by preparing a turning track for England as the young batting unit needs time.

If Indian batters get a good track, they might even perform well: Harbhajan

"India should be careful that they don't fall into their own trap by preparing a turning track for the visitors. This batting unit is young, they need time, and if they get a good track, they might even perform well," he added.

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Being 0-1 behind in the series, the Rohit Sharma-led side will have a herculean task of making a comeback in the second game with England high on confidence with their come-from-behind win.

India squad for 2^nd Test: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, K.S. Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar