Veteran Indian batter Hanuma Vihari believes the management is looking at the bigger picture for the upcoming Test series in Australia by batting KL Rahul at No.6 in the ongoing Bangladesh series at home as well. However, Rahul batted at No.6 in the first Bangladesh Test in Chennai and managed scores of only 16 and 22* respectively in India’s massive 280-run win as well.
Talking to JioCinema ahead of the second Bangladesh Test, Vihari said: “KL Rahul’s role will be important because he is someone who’s got the experience in playing in SENA countries and he can bat long. He has done well in SENA countries. I feel they are looking at KL Rahul at number 6 as well. By playing Rahul ahead of Sarfaraz in the current series (against Bangladesh), they are looking at a bigger picture. They want experience in number 6 when we tour Australia. Because in Australia playing at 6 you need to have good technique whether it’s facing the second new ball or batting after an early collapse.”
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However, Hanuma Vihari feels veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara’s absence would be a huge blow for India in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar
Trophy, considering his heroics in the previous two tours down under as well. Pujara has not been part of the Indian Test side for over a year since the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia as well.
“Pujara will be a big miss. he was the backbone of the batting line-up in the last two series for Team India. He took blows, he batted time, he stayed there for a long time, he saw the new ball, he got runs. He made the job easier for the other batters coming in. So that kind of role… who will play is a question mark for me. Currently I would say we have an attacking mode of a batting line up (the top six). All like to play their shots,” said Vihari.
“Virat is the only one I feel in that batting line up who can be like a glue to the other batters. He can stay on and bat the most number of overs and you know batting in Australia is all about time. If you see off the new ball, it gets a little easier with the older Kookaburra ball,” he concluded.
