Kolkata: Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta feels that naming Wriddhiman Saha instead of Rishabh Pant in the playing XI in the first day-night pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval was the right decision.
“I think Wriddhiman and Rishabh are different players. Wriddhiman is a better keeper, Rishabh better batsman. When six batsmen are already playing in this match, and the keeper comes at the no.7 and as the pink ball moves a lot, I think that’s the right decision,” Dasgupta said to Sportslight Media on the sidelines of an event on Thursday (December 17).
When asked about Australia’s home advantage, he said, “Definitely they have an advantage. The home ground has a different advantage. If you see back last 3-4 years, winning away series has always been tough for everyone. Most probably last team to win in India was in 2012, England. So it’s tough, away series wins are tough. Australia is tough. Steve Smith is playing, David Warner will play soon. Marnus Labuschagne is batting really well, the bowling side is always very good,” he further said.
Star batsman Rohit Sharma is currently undergoing the mandatory 14-day quarantine in Australia and won’t be available to play until the third Test in Sydney (January 7-11). Dasgupta expressed how it is an advantage and helpful for Indian team for senior guidance as regular skipper Virat Kohli will be flying back to India after the ongoing Test to attend the birth of his first child.
“Definitely advantage. Especially because Kohli will not be playing. So you need a senior player. You have Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, but the presence of Rohit makes a huge difference,” said the former wicketkeeper.
Dasgupta has played eight Tests and five ODIs for India between 2001 and 2006 and is now a Hindi and English commentator. He was later replaced by Ajay Ratra. An aggressive opening batsman, Dasgupta played for Bengal, where he took over as captain from Sourav Ganguly.
