Former wicket-keeper batsman, Deep Dasgupta reckons the fast-paced pitch at the Gabba in Brisbane can be expected to might just work in India’s favor when they will be locking horns with Australia in the fourth Test of the series on January 15. Australia lost their last Test at the Gabba since 1988 which is why they are being touted as the favorites to win the Brisbane Test.

During a recent chat on Sports Today, Deep Dasgupta said, “I think it (fastpitch in Brisbane) plays into India’s hand to an extent because it generally is a bowling-friendly pitch and when you look at the Indian bowling side, which might have very inexperienced pacers, it might just help India that way. So that could be a little more of an advantage for India but expect a lot of on the rise shots, expect few bouncers and a few more hits to the bodies, a few more bruises.”

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India has already lost the services of the fast bowlers, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav to injuries after the Boxing Day Test, and might just be forced to rest Jasprit Bumrah in Brisbane after he suffered an abdominal strain while bowling in the Sydney Test last week.

Dasgupta reckons that Shardul Thakur should play ahead of Natarajan, who made an impressive debut for India in December last year during the limited-overs series but is the least experienced pacer in the squad.

Explaining the same, Deep Dasgupta said, “The Indian team is not announced as yet, I think they still want to see if there’s any chance of Bumrah playing. But it just seems not the right thing to do, if he’s not fit don’t take a chance with him. I would replace him with Shardul Thakur because he has played Test match cricket even though he, unfortunately, had to leave the ground in the very first over with an injury”

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He further added, “He can be quite handy, has played 60-odd first-class matches and he’s done really well if you look at his record it’s been fabulous. Natarajan is bowling very well but he does not have too much experience in red-ball cricket, even if you look at the first-class record he hasn’t played too many red-ball matches.”