Kevin Pietersen wants The Hundred stars to feature in next India Test; scoffs at current top three
Former captain Kevin Pietersen wants England to make major changes to their side for the next Test against India, starting August 25 in Headingley. With the home team going down heavily at Lord’s to be 1-0 down in the five-match series, Pietersen believes the time is ripe for desperate measures, including the reshuffling of the batting unit.
Under the ex batter’s scanner were especially England’s top three from the first two India Tests – openers Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley (first Test) and Haseeb Hameed (second) at No.3. The batting great turned commentator feels it is time to take the harsh calls and drop these gents.
“I would make wholesale changes for the third Test,” Kevin Pietersen wrote for the blog.betway.com. “They cannot be worse than the line-up that batted like that on day five at Lord’s, which was absolutely atrocious.”
“I could bowl to that top three at the moment and come under very little pressure, and I’m 41 years of age. None of India’s bowlers are actually worried about any damage that they might do.”
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Kevin Pietersen wants England’s existing top three to be sacked immediately.
Burns and Sibley, who have struggled against the unprecedently rich Indian pace attack at Lord’s and Trent Bridge, were England’s top run-getters from their 1-0 series loss to New Zealand earlier in the summer.
Hameed, on his part, replaced the out-of-form Crawley only two innings back and while the young right-hander failed in the second Test, he has been a batter rejuvenated since the start of the ongoing season.
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But, though England would have their own reasons to be persisting with the existing top three, Pietersen suggested the names of Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook as the ones who should fill in for them immediately if the three lions are to bounce back against the Indians.
Pietersen backed the three players’ cases on the back of their white-ball performances in The Hundred’s men’s competition going on right now. Brook, Malan and Livingstone are in the top 5 of the tournament’s highest run-makers and Pietersen feels their form should be made good use of by England.
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“Brook has impressed me massively in The Hundred,” wrote the 41-year-old, who has been commentating in the new 100-ball competition. “My goodness, he can properly play. He’s got a better game than Burns, Sibley and Crawley combined.”
“Livingstone should come in at five or six, too. He can put the pressure back on the bowlers. If he can face the bowlers that he’s faced in franchise cricket around the world and go well, then there’s no reason why he can’t slightly alter his mindset and adapt to Test cricket. He’s the hottest ticket in town at the moment after his awesome performances in The Hundred.”
“Malan, for me, has also proven that he is international class and is an obvious pick to come in and bat at three.”
The obvious concern here would be the red-ball credentials of the three cricketers and lack of time in their hands to adjust from The Hundred to the demands of Test cricket. But that’s a risk, Kevin Pietersen thinks, England should be willing to take.
“Yes, there is risk, because these guys might nick off while playing aggressive shots, but they can’t do any worse than the current lot. They have proven that they can cope with top-class bowling,” he wrote.
“Believe me, I’ve been there, if you’re a class player then you can adapt your game. Feeling good and knowing that you can cope with the bowling is all you need and then you can adapt.”
“These guys are class players and if England want to start winning some games then they should pick them,” Pietersen concluded.