India on Friday named their player XI for the second Test against Australia from December 26 with test debuts handed over to Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj. Gill comes in for Prithvi Shaw and is likely to open up the batting as Siraj replaces the injured Mohammed Shami. Rishabh Pant replaces Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps even as Ajinkya Rahane steps forward to lead the team in Virat Kohli’s absence. The Ravindra Jadeja all-rounder has also been included in the XI, as India enters with five bowling options for the Boxing Day event.
ALERT: #TeamIndia for the second round of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia to be played at MCG from tomorrow announced. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/4g1q3DJmm7
– BCCI (@BCCI) December 25, 2020
Mayank Agarwal will likely have a new opening partner in Gill even as Cheteshwar Pujara, Rahane, and Hanuma Vihari occupy the mid-order slots.
Ravindra Jadeja is likely to hit No. 6 followed by wicket hitter Rishabh Pant, who enjoyed a superlative test tour to Australia in 2018-19.
In the absence of Mohammed Shami, who suffered a broken right arm, India has beefed up its bowling attack by including Jadeja as well as delivering a debut to fast pitcher Siraj.
Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav are the other fast bowlers, while R Ashwin is the roulette specialist.
Shaw, who returned scores of 0 and 4 in the first test in Adelaide, was eliminated, while Wriddhiman Saha, a specialist goalkeeper, was benched in favor of the more aggressive hitter Pant.
Pant racked up 350 runs in four rounds to 58.33 on the 2018-19 India tour to Australia and this record kept him in good stead for one spot ahead of Saha.
Gill, who scored half a century in the warm-up game in Sydney prior to Test 1, will make his Test debut nearly two years after making his ODI debut, against New Zealand in early 2019.
He has scored 2,270 runs in 23 first-class games at 68.78 with seven centuries.
Siraj, who has 152 first-class wickets at 11:44 p.m., will make his testing debut after having made his ODI debut also against Australia in 2019.
Promoted
India trailed Australia 1-0 in the four-game series after losing the first Test by eight wickets.
India XI: Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant (week), R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
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