‘He has been backbone of this batting order’ – Ravichandran Ashwin picks the Indian batter to watch out for in BGT 2023

Team India is set to host Australia for a four-match Test series starting from February 9th in Nagpur. The iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy could seal Men in Blue a spot in the Test Championship finals. The team will need to win the series to play the finals against the Aussies at the Oval later this year.

Meanwhile, ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has picked his playing XI for the first match of the series. He also named his most important batter of the series. Ashwin on his YouTube channel said that middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer will be a crucial player in absence of Rishabh Pant.

Speaking about Iyer’s importance Ravichandran Ashwin said, “Shreyas Iyer has been India’s go-to Test batter alongside Rishabh Pant in the last couple of years. That in itself is a lesser compliment for him. He has been the backbone of this batting order. He is going to be a crucial player for India in Pant’s absence.”

Shreyas Iyer set to miss the first Test in Nagpur

Iyer who is an important part of India’s Test squad has been ruled out of the first match against the Aussies due to injury. He has been out of action for almost a month because of the stiffness in his back. He was asked by the Indian cricket board to report to NCA for rehab. However, it is said that Iyer will join the team before the second test in Delhi.

Iyer has been incredible for India in Tests since his debut against New Zealand. In November 2021, Iyer played his first test in Kanpur against Kiwis. He scored a century and half-century in respective innings. In his brief test career, Iyer has played seven Tests. In these matches, he has scored 624 runs at an average of 56.72, with one century and five fifties.

In the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill or Suryakumar Yadav could fill one of the middle-order slots if Shreyas is unavailable. If Gill opens the innings alongside Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul could bat in the middle order. Ishan Kishan is also available for the selection but his poor form put him behind Gill and Suryakumar.