Raina and Ashwin should play in Brisbane

While India lost by a small margin in Adelaide in one of the most thrilling Test matches witnessed in recent times, there are a few areas that India will need to address to come back stronger at Gabba.

Murali Vijay showed lot of concentration and patience in both innings but unfortunately missed out on a well deserved century.

Shikhar Dhawan, although not convincing yet overseas, has an aggressive approach that is a plus point to keep out the pressure, as he scores freely when in good nick.

Cheteshwar Pujara looked good in his stay at middle in both innings and will look to capitalise on his form. Virat Kohli has been in tremendous form by scoring a century in each innings and should continue his excellent touch.

Ajinkya Rahane was a bit unlucky to got out in the second innings due to a poor decision by the umpire, but he needs to control his instincts while playing lofted shots, and ease out first and then build up on his natural game.

Rohit Sharma comes at number six, which is a very crucial position to play. He has to mostly deal with tail-enders to keep the scoreboard ticking over and stay in the game.

This is where Sharma has not yet been fully convincing as he got out being a bit lazy in his approach and threw away his wicket. He needs to go back to the drawing board and re-think his strategy. Also, he has came off a shoulder injury recently, so his part-time bowling is a limited option for the skipper.

This is where Suresh Raina can come in and bowl his slow off-spinners. Raina has been in excellent form of late in the limited format and that’s the reason for his selection in the Test squad. This is the right time to pick him in playing XI at the Gabba to make full use of his limited format form.

Karn Sharma didn’t have a memorable outing in his debut and didn’t look ready for Test match level. He should make way for Ravi Ashwin to come in, as Ashwin is a better batsman compared to Sharma, who looked very tentative in middle, while Ashwin has a century to his name in this format.

He won’t immediately make an impact with bat, but can at least give good support to other partners and can steady the ship. While Ashwin’s bowling record overseas is nothing to write home about, he will definitely be a good weapon with his variations.

Overall, India will look to keep positive momentum going into the second Test and hope that all players are in same zone as that of first Test match. They need to bring the same passion and approach towards the game at the Gabba.