The BCCI has announced the Team India squad for the upcoming four-match Test series against Australia down under. Known as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Tests series was constituted in 1996 and has been played ever since.
The last time when Virat Kohli and his men toured Australia in 2018-19, they defeated the home team in their own backyard in a Test series for the very first time, creating history and pocketing the Trophy as well. This time around, the home team will be bolstered by the presence of Steve Smith and David Warner, who were suspended from cricket when India last played Australia in Tests.
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However, with the prevalent COVID-19 situation in the world, the BCCI has decided to send in an extended squad for the Test series, keeping in mind that replacements cannot be flown in from India at short notice. Also, as local net bowlers won’t be available for practice, the Indian board will pick a handful of the same for the purpose.
The four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy is scheduled to start with a day-night Test in Adelaide from December 17. The tour will end on January 19 with the final Test in Brisbane. The confirmed and final schedule will be out in a few days’ time.
The Test squad saw the new name of Mohammed Siraj being included. Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, and Prithvi Shaw were picked as the openers, while both Saha and Pant were named as the wicketkeepers.
Bumrah, Shami, Umesh, Saini formed the fast bowling unit, while Kuldeep was picked as the backup spinner for Ashwin and Jadeja.
The BCCI has also added that injuries of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma will be monitored continuously by its medical team and hence their names were not included in any of the squads. Apart from this, four additional bowlers - Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel, and T. Natarajan - will travel with the Indian contingent.
Here is the Team India squad for the four-match Test series in Australia:
Virat Kohli (Capt), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj
