Former India captain backs Shaw and Vihari  

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has revealed that he would like to see Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari being given a chance to feature in India’s starting XI against England in the fifth Test.

Both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul haven’t been in the best of forms, leaving a chance for the two to be in the team in place of them, even though Vihari isn’t an opener.

“It is important to have a change at the top and give Prithvi Shaw a go. He is young, not battle-scarred, and had a good India ‘A’ tour of England. Both KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are not in the best of form and it will not be a bad idea to have a change at the top,” Ganguly said.

The former left-handed batsman then added that while he is a fan of playing with five bowlers, he wants Kohli to try and go with a combination of seven batsmen and four bowlers as the Indian batsmen haven’t been at their best and adding another batter would improve the depth while also giving Hanuma Vihari a chance to play in the team.

“I am a big believer of playing five bowlers and the Indian bowling unit has been exceptional this series. However, maybe Virat can think about a four-bowler option to see how the bowling unit reacts to such situations and whether this could be a possibility in the future. A lot of good teams in world cricket have succeeded with this formula,” he said.

“It will also give Hanuma Vihari an opportunity. Good things have been said about him of late and this will also help to strengthen the squad’s batting depth,” he concluded.

India take on England in the fifth Test later today with only pride to play for as the visitors have already lost the series 3-1.