Former India captain: ‘Playing against Afghanistan is nonsensical’
Former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar opined that playing in India against Afghanistan, before India’s series in English conditions, makes no sense.
The former India batsman has also backed Virat Kohli’s decision to gain county experience ahead of the England tour instead of playing the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June. Moreover, he thinks Cheteshwar Pujara should also stay back in England and continue his county stint with Yorkshire instead of returning to play the home-Test.
“It's a good decision. He (Kohli) will get time to acclimatize to the conditions. The last tour wasn't very good for him. So it (the county stint) is very critical for him. So he's very keen to be there early, which is a good thing.
“If I was a selector, I would've asked (Cheteshwar) Pujara also to stay back and play county cricket because these are the guys who're going to play in England. Playing in India against Afghanistan, for the time, makes no sense. Pujara's coming back from England to play Afghanistan defies logic because he was playing in county cricket, where, at the moment, he isn't very consistent. So, he would've got more chances to play in England, scored runs and got into the groove,” said Vengsarkar.
India captain Virat Kohli will skip the Afghanistan-Test and the first T20I against the Irish team in Ireland due to his county commitments for Surrey, where he’s been roped in for the month of June. Ajinkya Rahane will be leading the Men in Blue in Kohli’s absence and Shreyas Iyer is likely replace the right-handed batsman.
According to Vengsarkar, the BCCI should’ve focused on the England tour instead of hosting Afghanistan for their inaugural Test. He feels that taking this match lightly would not be a wise decision and it might be tough to fight a team that would be eager to create a strong reputation.
“I feel the Afghanistan Test is wrongly scheduled. They (BCCI) should've concentrated more on the England tour. (I know that) the India 'A' team is going (to England).
“Of course, there is an FTP, there is a Test program, and you have to adhere to it. But then, this is a Test match. You can't take it lightly. This is Afghanistan's first match, and they must be very keen to establish themselves at the international level,” Vengsarkar said here on Friday while launching a cricket event organized by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI).
Kohli won't want to endure another miserable tour of England like last time when he averaged 13.4 in five Tests against the Poms in 2014. India were beaten 3-1 in that series and then Kohli put a lot of efforts in his batting and hasn’t looked back since.
“I think he's the best batsman in the world at the moment. In the last four years, he's established himself as the No. 1 batsman in the world. So we expect a lot of things from him. Of course, the England tour will be 'the tour' for him. I'm sure he'll do well,” Vengsarkar said.
“I expect a lot from the Indian team on the tour of England... simply because we've got fast bowlers now, and a lot of options in fast bowlers, which wasn't the case before. It's a good thing for Indian cricket. We've a balanced team. Since our pacers are very good at the international level, we should be able to win,” added the 62-year-old.
