India announce 18-member squad for the upcoming tour of Australia
BCCI have announced their 18-member squad for the upcoming tour to Australia that starts from 21st November. Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel make their return to the Test squad after not being selected for the England tour earlier this year. Opener Murali Vijay also returns into the Test setup after being dropped due to poor form in the last six months.
Rohit Sharma did do well on the South Africa tour and failed to register a score in the first two Test matches. He was dropped from the Test squad for England tour. Parthiv Patel also played in England but failed to make impact with the bat. Dinesh Karthik replaced Patel in the side and failed to cement his place in the side in red-ball cricket.
Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant certainly has cemented his place in the XI due to consistently good performances with the bat in Test cricket. He also scored a splendid century in the fifth and final game of the series against England at The Oval. Parthiv Patel has been picked as reserve keeper if case Pant suffers from an injury during the course of the tour.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya has yet to recover and will miss the Australian tour. Ravendra Jadeja will be keen to fill the void left by Pandya and contribute with the bat. Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravendra Jadeja are three spinners picked for the tour of Australia. Jaspreet Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are premier pace options for India for the four-match Test series that begins from 6th December at Adelaide. Mohammad Shami has been consistent performer for India in the Test setup.
The pace duo of Shardul Thakur and Muhammad Siraj have been dropped from the Test side as Sharma and Kumar make their way to the side. Hanuma Vihari and Prithvi Shaw have been picked and will be keen to make an impression with the bat on the first trip to Australia.
India Test squad for Australia Test series: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravendra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Parthiv Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Prithvi Shaw, Jaspreet Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma.
