Sunil Gavaskar expects these two India batters to excel in Tests against England

Virat Kohli will not feature in the first two Tests against England. The five-match Test series between India and England is scheduled to start from January 25 with the opening contest being played in Hyderabad. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed Kohli’s absence due to personal reasons, adding that a replacement for the talismanic batter will be announced soon. Players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan are expected to be in contention to replace Kohli in Team India’s squad for the series against England.

In Kohli’s absence, the Indian batting line-up comprising the likes of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, will have to showcase their A game against the English bowling attack. Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar recently shared his views on India’s batting unit. The former India skipper predicted that young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal will cement his spot in the Test squad following the series against England.

“Yashasvi Jaiswal will easily settle in home conditions. He’s also a left-hander. I think he’ll establish himself completely in the Indian Test team after this series,” Gavaskar told Star Sports. Gavaskar’s comments came before BCCI confirmed Kohli’s absence in the first two Tests against England.

After Harry Brook, Kohli became the second player to miss a part or all of the series between India and England. Kohli had reached Hyderabad, the venue of the Test series opener, on Sunday but did not take part in India’s optional training session yesterday.

Gavaskar also talked about Shreyas Iyer who will be aiming to regain his form in red-ball cricket during the series against England. Iyer did not have a fruitful outing in the Test series against South Africa in the Rainbow Nation. Gavaskar expected Iyer to replicate his old form in the Tests against the Ben Stokes-led side.

“In the World Cup, Shreyas Iyer batted brilliantly in Indian pitches, so I’m hoping he’ll play similarly at No.5 in the Test series. He batted aggressively, was quite watchful at the start and then his stroke-making after reading the pitch was a delight to watch. I hope he’ll replicate that,” Gavaskar said.

Having played 12 Tests so far, Iyer has scored 707 runs at an average of 39.27. The 29-year-old has one century and five half centuries in this format.