Rahul continues in the team running in poor form for the last two Tests, Unadkat returns to the ODI team
Indian opener KL Rahul on Sunday retained his place in the Test team for the last two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Indian selection committee did not make any changes in the team after the six-wicket win against Australia in Delhi. Shubman Gill, who is in fine form, is not being given a place in the playing XI while Rahul has scored scores of 20, 17 and one in the series so far.
The opener’s poor run of form started in Bangladesh last year when he led the team in a two-Test series. Interestingly, he was chosen as the vice-captain for the first two Tests against Australia but no vice-captain has been made for the last two matches along with Rohit Sharma. The third Test will start in Indore from March 1 and the fourth in Ahmedabad from March 9.
Apart from picking the Test team, the four selectors have also picked the team for the three ODIs against Australia starting March 17 after the departure of the head of the selection committee, Chetan Sharma. Left-arm fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat is back in the squad for the remaining two Tests. He was part of the squad for the first two Tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but was ‘released’ to represent Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy final against Bengal. Saurashtra’s title-winning Ranji Trophy captain Unadkat has also returned to the ODI squad for the limited-overs series that will be played after the Test series.
He last played an ODI in 2013 but the selectors have reposed faith in the experienced bowler which also reflects the paucity of left-arm fast bowlers in the country. Youngster Arshdeep Singh was recently tried in ODIs but could not make it to the squad for the Australia series. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is out of international cricket since September 2022 due to a back injury. He did not play in the T20 World Cup, Bangladesh tour, home series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand and is also not part of the Test and ODI squads against Australia.
He is likely to return to play in the Indian Premier League starting March 31. A BCCI (Indian Cricket Board) release said that Rohit will be unavailable for the first ODI due to family commitments and in his absence, Hardik Pandya will lead the team in the match. As far as the out-of-form Rahul is concerned, head coach Rahul Dravid said the team management would like to give him enough chances. Skipper Rohit also came out in support of the much-criticised Rahul after Sunday’s win at the Kotla.
Shahbaz Ahmed and KS Bharat were expectedly dropped from the final ODI squad against New Zealand. According to a BCCI release, Ishan Kishan is the main wicket-keeper for the 50-over team, not Rahul. The Indian team for the third and fourth Test against Australia is as follows. Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer , Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat.
India’s ODI team against Australia is as follows. Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Akshar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.
