3 players who were lucky to be picked in India's squad for the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy vs Australia ft. Mohammed Siraj
India's form in the lead-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia has been far from promising. Rohit Sharma and Co. lost the second Test to New Zealand by 113 runs, a defeat that signaled their first home Test series loss in 12 years.
During the disappointing performance, the BCCI announced the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will commence on November 22 in Perth. The contingent features three uncapped players, while Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami haven't been named.
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.
India's Test performances have been underwhelming in the recent past, and some of the players who have been picked to tour Australia have been central to that. Others, meanwhile, don't have much first-class credentials to their names.
On that note, here are three players who were lucky to be picked in India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
#3 Mohammed Siraj
Mohammed Siraj being picked in India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was a foregone conclusion. The fast bowler has been an integral part of the team across formats over the last few years, and with Shami injured, he was always going to be selected as one of Jasprit Bumrah's bowling partners.
But did Siraj deserve to be picked? Or was he just selected because India don't have many options in the pace department? In eight Tests in 2024, the pacer has picked up just 19 wickets at an average of 29.47 and an economy rate just under four.
Siraj's average was above 30 in 2023 and touching 40 in 2022. Concerningly, he hasn't been able to perform the holding role and of keeping runs in check at one end either. The 30-year-old can consider himself fortunate to still be at the forefront of India's Test plans, given how he has performed in red-ball cricket over the last three years.
#2 Nitish Kumar Reddy
With India struggling to find fast-bowling all-rounders who can chip in in both departments in red-ball cricket, Nitish Kumar Reddy has been handed a maiden call-up to the Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Again, this seems to be a selection based on lack of choices rather than merit.
Nitish averages 21.45 with the bat in first-class cricket, with only one century and two fifties to his name in 35 innings. The 21-year-old has primarily been a bowling all-rounder, but his bowling average is around 26. It's highly debatable whether his bowling will translate into anything meaningful in Australian conditions.
On previous tours, India had the likes of Shardul Thakur batting at No. 8 as the fourth pacer. Nitish has presumably been picked to contend for that role, but there isn't much to suggest that he can be trusted there.
#1 Prasidh Krishna
In two Tests, Prasidh Krishna has picked up two wickets at an average of 65 and an economy rate of 4.64. While that's a small sample size and his first-class numbers are much better, the 28-year-old doesn't inspire much confidence due to his recurrent fitness issues.
Prasidh has played only four red-ball matches since January, and his body didn't hold up then either. In his last outing against Madhya Pradesh, he walked off the field after bowling just eight overs in an innings that lasted 140 overs.
Prasidh Krishna ability to extract bounce could prove useful in Australia, but his consistency still leaves a lot to be desired. There are also serious concerns over whether his fitness will last five days if he's picked in the XI for a Test at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.