Hayden's surprising pick to replace Pant in Test

'Rishabh Pant one of big losses to Indian cricket'

Former cricketer Matthew Hayden highlighted the absence of Rishabh Pant, who is currently recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident, as a significant void in India's Test team.

The absence of the dashing wicketkeeper-batter leaves a big void in India's Test eleven, said Hayden, who is backing Ishan Kishan to don the wicketkeeping gloves instead of K S Bharat.

"One of the big losses to Indian cricket right now is Rishabh Pant. If I was an Indian selector, I certainly go with the more dynamic wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan, he also adds that bit of swagger to the batting line up and in the fielding unit as well."

The spinners could play a role at The Oval as the game progresses and that is why Hayden said India must play both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

"What works for India is two spinners. It doesn't work for Australia, apart from the outrageous turners that we saw in India during the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

"I know the Australian combination will always want to have three quicks. Obviously, Nathan Lyon's is our spinner and Cameron Green can play as an all rounder. I mean, that's, that's how important Cameron Green is. That's a powerful and important role that he plays as an all rounder. So it's great to have him in form," he said.