IND v AUS 2023: Wasim Jaffer picks India’s XI for 2nd Test, drops KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav

The second Test is due to get underway on February 17 in Delhi.

Jaffer picked Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer in his team for second Test | GettyTeam India registered an emphatic victory by an innings and 132 runs in the opening Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at VCA Stadium, Nagpur last week.

With a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at stake, the Rohit Sharma-led side needs to win two more Tests in the four-match series.

Ahead of the second Test in Delhi, former cricketer Wasim Jaffer shared his playing XI on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Jaffer made two changes to the playing XI that featured in the series opener. He dropped vice-captain KL Rahul and middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav at the expense of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, respectively.

Despite the low scores in the two-Test series against Bangladesh last December, Rahul was picked for the first Test versus Australia. However, the opener failed to repay the faith of the team management, scoring 20 off 71 balls in India’s only innings.

On the other hand, Suryakumar couldn’t make a mark on his Test debut as he returned with a knock of 8 runs in Nagpur.

While Jaffer picked in-form opener Gill to partner skipper Rohit Sharma at the top, he backed Iyer to reclaim his middle-order spot after missing the series opener due to a back injury.

The rest of Wasim Jaffer’s team was same as the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli featured in the XI as premier batters while KS Bharat was selected as designated wicketkeeper. R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Akshar Patel are the spin all-rounders in his team whereas Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj are the fast bowlers to complete the XI.

Wasim Jaffer's India XI for second Test versus Australia:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 16 Feb, 2023

    Share Via