'He can counter-attack the Australian pacers with the new ball'
Delhi coach Rajkumar Sharma, on Wednesday, said that the inclusion of Rohit Sharma for the third Test will give the Indians an edge in countering the Australian bowlers.
"It will be a great boost with the addition of Rohit Sharma as he is a great batsman. No one plays the hook or pull shot better than him in the team. He can counter-attack the Australian pacers with the new ball," Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar said.
While Rohit made a return to the Indian team for the Pink Test to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground, pacer Navdeep Saini is set to make his debut in the longest format of the game.
India on Wednesday named the playing XI for the Pink Test. Opening batsman Mayank Agarwal has been dropped from the side and Rohit replaced him. Gill will open the innings with Rohit after playing knocks of 45 and 35* in his debut Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Saini comes in for speedster Umesh Yadav. The latter sustained a strain in his left calf muscle on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and has returned to India after he was ruled out of the series.
According to Rajkumar, Saini is the right choice because of his ability to deliver long spells and his line and lengths.
"Navdeep Saini has an edge over Shardul and Natrajan as he can bowl consistently above 140 kmph. He hits the right area and the biggest advantage of having him is that he can bowl long spells. He has done that in the past in Ranji season. I'm hopeful that he will grab the opportunity," the Delhi coach said.
Commenting on the reports in the Australian media that five Indian players breached the bio-bubble in Melbourne, Rajkumar said, "Indian players never breached the bio-bubble and it was a controversy created by the Australian media. We can say that it was their reaction after losing to India in the second Test. BCCI defended its players rightly and took a firm stand."
When asked about how the wicket will play at SCG, Rajkumar said he is expecting some big scores from the Indian batters and added that the pitch will help spinners in the later part of the match.
"Sydney's wicket is known to help batsmen. It is more like the Indian wicket where you can't see extra bounce and spinners get help from the surface as the game progresses. Last time, India scored good runs there, so I think Indian batsman can score big runs if they play cautiously," Rajkumar pointed.
The four-match series between India and Australia currently stands level at 1-1 and the third Test is slated to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from Thursday.
