The BCCI made significant changes to their current lineup when they announced India’s squad for the Australia Test series on Friday. Kuldeep Yadav was a surprise exclusion from India’s 18-member squad, and Mohammed Shami failed to recover on time.
KL Rahul, who was dropped from the playing eleven in the ongoing third Test match against New Zealand in Pune, has retained his place in the team. Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana, and Abhimanyu Easwaran are in the race for their first Test captaincy.
29-year-old Abhimanyu, who has struggled to make it to the playing eleven, has been in the team for the last few years. There is doubt whether captain Rohit Sharma will reportedly be able to play in the opening Test in Perth. Because there is a strong possibility that Bengal’s in-form opening batsman can take his place.
For the five-match series that begins on November 22, India’s squad is mostly unchanged except for Kuldeep and Shami. Kuldeep suffers from an ongoing left groin problem, according to the BCCI statement, and will join the new BCCI Centre of Excellence following the Pune Test.
“Kuldeep Yadav was unavailable for selection for the tour of Australia since he has been referred to the BCCI Centre of Excellence after the end of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand for long-term resolution of his chronic left groin issue,” the BCCI press release read.
The Indian management was expected to focus on a change of pace and include six fast bowlers in the squad, with Jaspit Bumrah as the vice captain. Apart from Prasidh Krishna, who is making a comeback after missing the last three Test matches against England, Bangladesh, and New Zealand, there are three fast bowlers: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Khalil Ahmed.
India’s squad for the Border Gavaskar Trophy:
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates