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The Indian cricket team currently is in need of some positive thinking. They need players who exude positivity and one man whose entire career was a paragon of positivity and confidence is Gautam Gambhir. The former India opener liked to take every challenge head on and his message for the Indian team ahead of the second Test match in Melbourne against Australia is similar.
India dominated the first two days of the pink ball Test in Adelaide, which saw the visitors take a 53-run lead. But a bizarre one hour of play on the third morning saw the team getting bundled out for their lowest ever Test score of 36, which led to an 8-wicket loss.
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With skipper Virat Kohli back home on paternity leave and key paceman Mohammed Shami out injured, the team needs to forget what happened at Adelaide and quickly get back in shape for the Boxing Day Test and Gambhir wants the players to take the positives out of the first match.
“They need to remember that they actually dominated the first two days, they were ahead in the game throughout the first two days. They will be hurt about the one session – but again they need to remember that there are three test matches,” Gambhir said on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.
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Kohli and Shami’s absence will put a huge burden on stand-in-captain Ajinkya Rahane’s shoulders and one thing that India need to get right is the team combination for the match .
“They won’t have their best player Virat Kohli with them; their captain. So, there is a lot of onus on Ajinkya Rahane, plus Mohammad Shami will not be there. There will be a lot of onus on what combination they go with,” the 2007 WT20 and 2011 World Cup winner Gambhir added.
There is a lot of talk about what changes will India make for the second Test and youngster Shubman Gill’s name is on the list as many ex-cricketers are calling for the stylish top order batsman to be handed his debut Test cap.
KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja’s names are also in the mix and it will depend on whether India decide to go in with two spinners and three pacers or a single spinner and three pacers for the Boxing Day Test.
Gill is expected to replace Prithvi Shaw while KL Rahul is tipped to take the place of skipper Kohli. Jadeja’s inclusion can happen in place of Hanuma Vihari while there is a lot of chatter about Rishabh Pant replacing Wriddhiman Saha too.
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