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It's that time of the year once again when there is a festive environment across the globe. Yes, it's December 25 which means it's CHRISTMAS! In world of sports, the festival has it's own significance as players and athletes celebrate this day while also simultaneously preparing for the Boxing Day matches scheduled to commence 24 hours later.
The Indian cricket team finds themselves in a similar situation as they get ready to kick off their South Africa tour with the 1st Test slated to kick off in Centurion on Sunday. Hence, considering the stress and many thoughts going on in the mind of players, what would they be demanding from Santa on the day of Christmas?
Although the cricketers have everything that they need, there is still a lot of competition for the place in national side which represent a country of 1.3 billion people. Hence, there is always something that they might be wishing for and considering this assumption, here is the list of things that some of the Indian cricketers might demand from Santa this year:
Shreyas Iyer - IPL Captaincy
The youngster from Mumbai has been touted as the future captain of Indian team. However, to achieve that dream, Shreyas Iyer needs to showcase his leadership abilities on a regular basis. Having thrived as a skipper of Delhi Capitals, an untimely injury stripped him of his responsibilities at the franchise. While he continues to make his mark as a batsman in the national side across all formats, all he would want this year would be an IPL captaincy job, which might actually be coming true very soon!
Also Read: Shreyas Iyer reportedly set to captain Ahmedabad in IPL 2022
Hardik Pandya - Old Bowling Arm
Ahead of an overseas tour, there was a time when Hardik Pandya was India's most important player considering his ability to bat and bowl medium pace. However, in recent times, the all-rounder has had various issues with his fitness which has put his place in the team under scrutiny. While his batting abilities are still something that the opposition might fear, all he would want this Christmas is to get his old bowling arm back which was strong enough to deliver even 15-20 overs in a day of Test match without getting hurt.
Ajinkya Rahane - No. 5 spot
If there is one player who has been under immense pressure in recent times, it has to be Ajinkya Rahane. The right-handed batsman has been struggling with form in the last one year and has also been removed as the vice-captain of the Test side. His place in the side is also under threat with players like Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari knocking the doors. Hence, all that 'Ajju' would be asking this Christmas is his No. 5 spot in national side, at least for the South Africa tour, so that India's overseas specialist can get a fair opportunity to show his magic with the bat once again.
Rohit Sharma - ICC Title
India have not won any ICC title since 2013, which was one of the main reasons why Virat Kohli was removed from white-ball captaincy. As Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the new skipper of national side in ODIs and T20Is, the target set for him is simple - Win an ICC title! If the Hitman can guide India to a triumph in either 2022 T20 WC or 2023 ODI WC, he will etch his name in the history books forever. Having achieved so many spectacular things with the bat, this is probably the only thing which he might be asking from Santa this year.
Virat Kohli - 71st Century
The only that India's Test captain would be crazing for this year will be his 71st international ton. It's been more than 2 years since Virat Kohli scored his last century and this has become a widely talked about topic in media in recent times. The 33-year-old has been touted to break Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 international centuries and if he wants to continue his quest to achieve that target, he needs to end his big-knock drought as early as possible. If Santa is listening, Kohli is set to equal and maybe even surpass Ponting's record of centuries in the series against South Africa.