Kohli's back injury, surprising names included in the Indian squad for SCG Test and more - Cricket News Today, 2nd January 2019
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The fourth and final Test match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets underway in Sydney tomorrow and all eyes are on the fitness of R Ashwin, who is racing against time to get match-fit to be a part of the XI. With the wicket expected to assist the spinners, the probable absence of India's premier Test spinner has delighted Australian skipper Tim Paine and his fellow batsmen.
Also read: Tim Paine relieved at R Ashwin's likely absence in Sydney Test
In the Ranji Trophy, Abhimanyu Easwaran's unbeaten 183 helped Bengal chase down 322 and beat Delhi. Apart from this, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan etc. registered wins in their respective matches.
Also read: Abhimanyu Easwaran helps Bengal make an incredible comeback to defeat Delhi
Apart from this, a lot of other things happened in the world of cricket over the last 24 hours. Let's take a look at the top news from today.
India's 13 for the fourth Test announced
With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy already in their kitty, the Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team will enter the fourth and final Test at SCG with everything to play for as they are just one draw away from a historic series win in Australia.
The Indian team has already announced the 13-member squad from which the final XI will be picked on the day of the match. As expected, Rohit Sharma is not included in the 13. There were quite a few surprises in the squad as KL Rahul has been included in the squad while Ishant Sharma misses the cut due to an injury and is replaced by Umesh Yadav. R Ashwin, who failed the fitness test earlier today and was ruled out of the Test, has been surprisingly included in the 13 which also features Kuldeep Yadav.
The team management has said that a call on Ashwin's availability will be taken just before the toss.
India's 13-man squad for the fourth Test: Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), KL Rahul, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.
Also read: India's 13 for the fourth Test announced