Harsha Bhogle believes that Indians will stick with Vijay and Pujara for 3rd Test

Continuing his analysis of the Indian cricket team and their performances overseas, Harsha Bhogle has gone with his gut feeling and said that the Indians will go in with Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan for the third Test against the West Indies.

The Indians will take on the West Indies in the third Test at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia and will be hoping to go for the kill as they aim to complete a series win, something they failed to achieve in the previous Test at Sabina Park.

The former Indian commentator conceded that the Indians were indeed in a selection conundrum. However, the fact that they would indeed want to go in for the kill will ensure that they stick to a strong as well as a reliable squad for the third Test.

“India have a few selection issues ahead of today’s third test match. While there are options in bowling, the primary thought in the minds of the team management will centre around Cheteshwar Pujara. His quality is undeniable but posts his lovely century in Sri Lanka, there hasn’t been an innings of substance. I hope they stay with him for this series but I can see why it would be most convenient to bring Vijay back and move Rahul to number three.”

Harsha Bhogle added that conventional wisdom theory stated that the Indians must stick to their original selections in spite of the replacements performing exceedingly well. Bhogle also added that Vijay and Pujara would keep their places despite the latter being at the receiving end of a brunt of criticism for his slow strike rate.

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“Conventional wisdom dictates that you stay with the original selection and even if the replacement has done very well, once the original is available again, the replacement goes out. On that count, Vijay would come in for Rahul. Dhawan has had a couple of big scores recently so he makes a case for himself and Vijay’s body of work in recent times has been second to none.”

“Sometimes, you take a call based on things other than scores. And to me, the big call would be, and that is something that the team management can see better than people a hundred yards or a few thousand kilometers away, whether Pujara looks confident. What a player feels about himself is just as important and that is impossible to tell from a distance.”

“My gut feel is that if the team management believes Pujara is confident and raring to go, they will stay with him and bring Vijay back for Rahul. If they feel Pujara is uncertain and low on confidence, they might go with Rahul at 3. I also believe that while Dhawan might get the nod here, he will be under observation and will need another big score in the West Indies to keep his place in the home tests.”

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