No Suryakumar Yadav as Wasim Jaffer picks his India playing XI for Nagpur Test against Australia
Wasim Jaffer has picked the in-form Shubman Gill ahead of Suryakumar Yadav in his India playing XI for the first Test in Nagpur, which starts on Thursday, February 9. He slotted the right-hander at No.5 in the absence of the injured Shreyas Iyer. Gill recently scored his maiden Test century during the two-Test series in Bangladesh.
Well played, Shubman Gill - 110 (152). Got to his maiden ODI and Test century this year, he's an absolute superstar with the bat.
Great knock, Gill. https://t.co/vFWBTSgu4v
The former India opener also chose India A's KS Bharat ahead of Ishan Kishan as a specialist wicketkeeper-batter for the longest format. One of these two players is likely to make their Test debut against the Aussies.
The 44-year-old wants to stick with India captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as openers. Jaffer has kept his faith in Rahul even after he scored only 57 runs in the two Tests in Bangladesh. The 30-year-old, however, guided India to a 2-0 triumph in the absence of the regular skipper.
No Axar Patel as Wasim Jaffer includes three spinners for Nagpur Test against Australia
Wasim Jaffer has also included three spinners in his line-up, namely Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav. Jadeja is expected to make his comeback after a gap of five months, as he had been recovering from an injury.
Interestingly, the 44-year-old did not find a place for spin all-rounder Axar Patel. The veteran reckons that left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep offers more variety to trouble the opposition batters.
While Ashwin and Jadeja are first-choice spinners, Kuldeep will look to continue his purple patch after taking eight wickets in the first Test in Bangladesh.
Kuldeep Yadav has a five wicket haul in India, Australia and now Bangladesh from just the 8 Test matches he played.
With quality spinners on their side, the Indian team management might ask the pitch curators to prepare a spin-friendly track.
Meanwhile, Jaffer included speedsters Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj to lead India's pace attack. Team India also have Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat as options if they wish to include three pacers.
My India XI for First Test:
1. Rohit (c)
2. KL
3. Pujara
4. Virat
5. Shubman
6. Bharat (wk)
7. Jadeja
8. Ashwin
9. Kuldeep
10. Shami
11. Siraj
Hard to leave out Axar but Kuldeep brings variety as a wrist spinner.
What's your XI? #INDvAUS #BorderGavaskarTrophy
India’s squad for the first two Tests: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, and Suryakumar Yadav.