Even Cheteshwar Pujara should have skipped Afghanistan Test: Dilip Vengsarkar

Former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar has questioned BCCI’s decision to host a Test against Afghanistan just a month before the England tour. Vengsarkar, who also served as the chief selector between 2006 and 2008, believes that instead of playing against Afghanistan, India should have concentrated on planning for the Test series in England.

“Afghanistan Test is wrongly scheduled. That’s what I feel. They should have concentrated more on England tour. It makes no logic to play against Afghanistan just before playing England,” Vengsarkar said here on Friday.

Recently some former cricketers, including ex-Australia captain Michael Clarke, had questioned Virat Kohli’s decision to miss the Afghanistan Test and instead play county cricket to prepare for the tour of England. Vengsarkar, though, backed the India captain’s call and added that Pujara should have done the same.

“Virat’s decision to play county cricket is good. He will get time to acclimatise. The last England tour was not good for him, so he is very keen to do well this time. The more he plays in England, the better he will become.

“In fact if I were a selector, I would have also asked Pujara to stay back (in England) and play county cricket because playing in India against Afghanistan makes no sense. He is not very consistent at this moment, so playing in England would have given him more chances to get in the groove,” said the 62-year-old.

INDIA CAN WIN

A member of the 1983 ODI World Cup-winning team, Vengsarkar, though, praised the itinerary of the Indian team and backed Kohli and Co. to do well.

India’s month-long tour of England begins on July 3. They will play three T20s and three ODIs before embarking on a five-Test series with the first Test scheduled to begin at Trent Bridge on August 1. Prior to England series, India are also slated to face Ireland in a two-match T20 series.

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“This is a good itinerary. You have enough games to prepare for the Tests. Last time in South Africa, there was hardly any match for preparation and therefore our players didn’t have enough time to adjust to conditions there. It’s going to be a different scenario in England.

“I expect a lot from the Indian team now. We have very good fast bowlers. We have a balanced team. Since our fast bowers are very good at international level, we should be able to beat England,” said Vengsarkar, also known as the Colonel.

Vengsarkar recommended India should play a leg-spinner in England considering English batsmen’s well-documented struggle against wrist spinners in the past. “It will help if we add a leg-spinner to the team because the English batsmen don’t play wrist spin well.”