Mohammad Kaif gives hint of India's batting line-up ahead of 2nd Test against England

India have lost the 1st Test against England. The 'Bazball' approach has outplayed the home side at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Rohit Sharma has been criticised after the Men in Blue fell short by 28 runs while chasing 231 runs. The Men in Blue will be missing four of their key players in the 2nd Test, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami for respective reasons. They will like to fight back in the 2nd Test and win the series as well. 

Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes that India has been forced to put on a revised batting lineup for the Test series against England because they are aware that their own players struggle on turning surfaces. Following the injuries to Rahul and Jadeja, India's batting will be weakened for the second Test, which begins on February 2 in Visakhapatnam. Sarfaraz Khan, Saurabh Kumar, and Washington Sundar have been named as replacements.

In an interview with Timesofindia, Kaif discussed the possible combinations for India's next Test. He believes that while the hosts would aim for a long batting line-up, Kuldeep might enter the picture.

India's main plan is that they should have players who can bat till at least No. 9: Mohammad Kaif

The 43-year-old said, "India's main plan is that they should have players who can bat till at least No. 9. When you play on a turning track, even Rohit Sharma knows that India's batsmen will also struggle, so he wants assurance and security in the batting. The team that played in the last Test was the best-playing XI. There were 5 proper bowlers and batting till No. 9.

"But in the next match it will be difficult to fill in the void created by Jadeja's absence, so Washington Sundar can also be considered because if Kuldeep Yadav plays then the batting will only be till No. 8. But I think because Kuldeep is already there in the squad, he will get the nod ahead of Sundar."