5 players who deserve to play Tests for India in the next one year

The Indian Test team might be number 1 in the world but they have some areas to address if they want to sustain their dominance in the longer run. The current Indian team has a better bowling unit than the batting unit, something you don't see often in Indian cricket.

The tour of South Africa in 2018 and the recently-concluded first Test against England at Edgbaston show that the bowlers are performing better than the batsmen and it is a serious reality check for Virat Kohli and co. who have eight more overseas Test matches (one starts in the first week of January 2019) and three matches at home by the end of this year.

The batsmen are struggling to get going and put runs on the board. If this trend continues, the selectors have to take some bold decisions and throw the axe on certain players, especially when a lot of talented and deserving cricketers waiting in the wings.

Let us take a look at five players who deserve to play Tests for India in the next one year.

---

Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer

Over the last few years, Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer has been phenomenal at number three for his domestic side in the Ranji Trophy. The right-hander has scored runs for fun irrespective of whether he plays for Mumbai or West Zone or India A.

His consistent performances have earned him a place in the Indian side, limited-overs side to be precise and the 23-year-old has failed to capitalize on the chances he got and has moved down the pecking order for a place in the Indian middle-order in ODIs.

Unfortunately, he was called into the Indian Test team only once, that too as a last minute replacement for Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who had to miss the fourth and final Test against Australia in Dharamsala in 2017. Iyer is yet to make his Test debut and a good series against South Africa A and Australia A in India should give him a good chance of making it to the national side.

Someone like Shreyas, who averages 54 in 46 FC matches deserves to play Test cricket for India and the selectors should consider him when they sit down to pick the team for the series against West Indies and the Australia tour later this year.

Mayank Agarwal

England Lions v India A - Tri-Series International

2162 runs in 32 innings at an average of 67.56 per innings in one single domestic season which includes the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy, which is the most by any batsman in India, what else should Mayank Agarwal do to get into the Indian side?

Over the last two years, Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal has been scoring runs for fun and still, he is not given a call-up for the Indian Test side. He had a good tour of England with India A and is continuing his good touch in the ongoing first unofficial Test against South Africa A in Bangalore where he is batting on 220 after day 1.

With the Indian openers struggling to get going in the longer formats, it won't be a bad idea if the selectors decide to pick him for the last two Tests against England or even the Test series against West Indies and Australia later this year.

Hanuma Vihari

Hanuma Vihari

Many remember Hanuma Vihari as the bowler who removed Chris Gayle off the very first ball in an IPL match. But, Vihari is a part-time off-spinner who is very consistent with the bat, especially in the longer formats of the game.

Playing for Andhra in the Indian domestic circuit, Vihari has played 61 games for his state, South Zone, and India A and has scored 4940 runs at an amazing average of 59.51. What makes him stand apart from the rest is that he is an old-school cricketer, who likes to bat out time and at the same time, he scores his runs without taking any risks.

Over the last couple of seasons, his appetite for runs has increased as he started converting his centuries into daddy hundreds. He had a good tour of England with India A and is one of the fine prospects who can get into the Indian side. He has every single quality to be a back-up for Cheteshwar Pujara for the number 3 slot.

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant is a familiar name with everyone as he has shown the world what he is capable of in the 2018 IPL where he scored over 600 runs and tore some of the best bowlers in the world apart. The 20-year-old is a very fine prospect in the longer format as well as it is where he made a name for himself in the 2016-17 domestic season in which he impressed everyone with his aggressive batting.

Now, he has controlled his aggression and has started to become more mature, which was very evident from his recent exploits against England Lions and West Indies A. Thanks to those performances, he has been rewarded with a place in the Indian Test squad for the tour of England and the Delhi lad can learn from his experience of being with some quality players and can only get better.

With India having concerns with their wicketkeeper-batsman in Test cricket, it won't be a bad choice to punt with Pant.

Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw might be the new kid on the block but he makes everyone go in awe with his batting. Shaw, who led India to victory in the 2018 under-19 World Cup, is easily one of the brightest young prospects in India and is surely one for the future.

The 19-year-old scores runs for fun whenever he gets out to bat and has caught everyone's attention with his consistent performances. He had his weaknesses against incoming deliveries but he has sorted it out and is looking good to take up the burden of opening the batting for India in Test cricket.

He might have played just 12 FC games in which he has scored over 1262 runs at an average of 57.36 and has got out for 136 in his 13th match against South Africa A in Bangalore after having a fantastic time in England with India A.

His inclusion in the Indian Test side will do a lot of good for the team as the teenager likes to give his team a flying start without taking any risks. At least 15-20 overs of Prithvi will put the opposition bowlers under pressure and take the game away from the opposition.