Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has noted that Sarfaraz Khan could struggle in the Border-Gavaskar trophy against Australia as keeps his hands low while batting and thus he could have a difficult time while playing on bouncy Australian pitches.
Khan showed he can handle the extra bounce when he was challenged by New Zealand pacers in the second innings of the opening Test at Bengaluru. The youngster scored the bulk of his runs in the third man region as he played the ball late and scored a fine knock of 150 runs.
Khan also added a brilliant alliance of 177 runs with Rishabh Pant to give a ray of hope to the home team. The right-hander from Mumbai has scored 350 runs in four Test matches at an average of 58.33.
Brad Hogg said on his YouTube Channel, “There’s one thing that I’m worried about Sarfaraz Khan moving forward if he goes to places like England, South Africa, and if he’s on the tour here to Australia, where there’s extra bounce, he might find himself in a little bit of trouble with the way that he sets himself up before the fast bowler delivers. Those hands are very low.”
On the other hand, KL Rahul returned with scores of 0 and 12 in the first Test against the Kiwis. With Shubman Gill fully fit, Hogg said he will bring in the youngster in place of Rahul.
“I’d bring Gill in for Rahul now. You’ve got to play Sarfaraz in the next game. He’s made a 150, nearly a match-saving 150 under pressure, you’ve got to keep that momentum going. Rahul has had his opportunities, hasn’t taken those opportunities over the last couple of Test matches.”
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant suffered a blow to his knee in the first innings and Dhruv Jurel kept the wickets in his place. Hogg said he will play Jurel if Pant has not recovered fully.
“If Pant is unfit as well, will they play Jurel or will they keep Rahul in there to do the keeping? I’d go with Jurel because you want that backup keeper who’s going to be the future of India moving forward.”
India will take on New Zealand in the second Test at Pune from Thursday onwards.
