"He has to score hundreds to stay in the playing XI" - Mohammed Azharuddin's big claim on Indian star batsman

India will play their next red-ball game against England, which is the fifth and final Test, which was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The match is scheduled to be played between June 1 and June 5 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. The team has been announced and a 17-member squad will fly to the UK to feature in that match.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who was dropped in the series against Sri Lanka, is back in the team. That might be a sign for Hanuma Vihari that he might get dropped from the playing XI if Pujara gets to play.

Vihari, who has been with the Indian Test squad for more than three years now, hasn't gotten the chances he deserved. During this time, he has only played 15 matches, scoring 808 runs at 35.13, including one century and five half-centuries, irrespective of the solidity he proved in the middle order.

But due to the presence of senior players, the 28-year-old has always been sidelined. However, this will be a big chance for the right-hander in England in the rescheduled Test. The former Indian skipper also reckons that he must grab this opportunity and perform in England.

In an interaction with Kheleej Times on Thursday, Mohammed Azharuddin said that Vihari needs to play a big innings and score 100s if he wants to feature regularly in the playing XI. He also added that Vihari is a really good batter, but scoring 50s and 60s would not help him.

Azharuddin further said, "But you can play for India for a long time only when you get the big runs consistently."

The Men in Blue have a very packed schedule this year. They will be hosting South Africa for the five-match T20I series starting on June 09. After that, they will fly to the UK to play the white-ball series against England and the Netherlands.