India’s playing eleven for Border-Gavaskar Trophy is decided! KL Rahul may be seen giving water to the players
The BCCI on Friday announced India’s 18-member squad for the upcoming Test series against Australia. India has made changes to its current Test team and dropped spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has been included in the team. Mohammed Shami has not been considered. It is believed that he is not fully fit yet.
India also included uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran and Harshit Rana in the team, but the main discussion was about the inclusion of Nitish Reddy. Nitish, a 21-year-old all-rounder, won the Emerging Player of the Tournament award in IPL 2024 and made headlines with his batting performance in the recently played T20 matches against Bangladesh.
Nitish’s role will be important
Nitish’s inclusion in red ball cricket has given India an important all-rounder option, which they have been missing for the last few years. Nitish is expected to make his Test debut on the Australia tour and with no direct rival for the role of fast bowler all-rounder, he can cement his place in the team.
Jasprit Bumrah will lead India’s fast bowling attack, which will include Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akashdeep and Yash Thakur. It will be an interesting headache for the management to pick their preferred playing XI, but Prasidh and Akash are likely to pair up with Bumrah in a three-member fast bowling attack, while Nitish can be the fourth option.
There will be a battle between Jadeja and Washington
In spin, either Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja are likely to find a place in the playing XI for most of the matches in Australia. Spinners will get the least help on Australia’s green surfaces, so the management can use either Jadeja or Sundar, who can perform better with the bat than the veteran Ashwin.
India’s probable playing against Australia:-
Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar/Jadeja, Akashdeep, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna
