Ever since Team India landed in Australia, speculations & rumours regarding the participation of full time skipper Rohit Sharma in the opening fixture of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024 have been the main point of discussion. The elite Mumbai batsman who recently became a father for the second time, is anticipated to miss the opening fixture of the series in Perth, as per the latest news reports.
The 37-year-old hasn’t travelled to Australia yet and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who is the Vice-Captain of the Men in Blue versus the Aussies is likely to wear the captain’s hat.
KL Rahul Declared Match Fit ahead of series opener in Perth, Shubman Gill ruled out of the first test due to a thumb injury
In what proves to be a massive boost for the Indian Cricket Team, experienced batter KL Rahul has been declared as match-fit ahead of the highly important opening match at the Cricket Stadium of Perth. A short pitched delivery struck the 32-year-old on his elbow, but luckily for the Men in Blue, Rahul worked hard in yesterday’s net-session to prove his match fitness.Thus, with Sharma being unavailable, the former LSG skipper is anticipated to open the innings for India alongside regular opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The Prince of Indian Cricket Shubham Gill on the other hand, fractured his thumb in the recently concluded match-simulation and he is set to miss the Perth Test-Match. The Men in Blue have a more than capable back-up available for Gill in the form of Karnataka’s promising batsman Devdutt Padikkal, who is expected to replace the 25-year-old Gill in the playing 11.
The duo of Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad have left for India, so the tourists are not left with just two top-order batsmen at their disposal, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Padikkal. Since the latter has more experience of batting at the number three position and had a better performance with the bat in the unofficial Test matches, he is likely to get the nod to be the replacement of Gill in Perth.
Hard hitting wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant will be seen batting at his regular number five position, with one of Sarfaraz Khan or Dhruv Jurel expected to follow him at number six. Khan was put in all sorts of trouble by the fantastic bowling performance of the Kiwis in the recently concluded Test-Series and Dhruv Jurel’s recent good run of form with the bat might make the Indian management give the preference to him over Sarfaraz.
Veteran spin bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is going to be a guranteed starter and he will be occupying the number seven positive in the batting order. It’s looking very likely that the Men in Blue will be going ahead with a pace dominated bowling unit so Jadeja will be the lone spinner.
Promising all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy had phenomenal debut IPL season and he is likely to be handed his Test Debut in the upcoming Perth Test-Match. So, Indian Cricket Team’s bowling unit will comprise of four pace bowlers, including Nitish Kumar Reddy. While the duo of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah will be handling the new ball duties, wonderkid Harshit Rana might end up getting the nod ahead of Prasidh Krishna in the opening Test-Match.
India’s probable Playing XI for the Perth Test-Match versus Australia
Jasprit Bumrah (Captain), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan / Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Do Read: Who Could Partner Jaiswal to Open in the IND vs AUS 1st Test? Indepth Analysis!