India's playing eleven for Border-Gavaskar Trophy is decided! KL Rahul may be seen giving water to the players

India lost the three-Test series against New Zealand on Saturday. New Zealand defeated India by 113 runs in the second Test match and took an unassailable 0-2 lead. India is upcoming in Australia. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be played from November 22. It will be important for both India and Australia. India has to win three Test matches to play the WTC final.

Indian team during the test match against New Zealand. Photo- BCCI

HIGHLIGHTS

India lost the second test match by 113 runs

Indian team will go on Australia tour

India's playing eleven for BGT could be like this

Sports Desk, New Delhi. BCCI on Friday announced India's 18-member team for the Test series against Australia. India has made changes in its current Test team and dropped spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Akshar Patel. Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has been included in the team. Mohammad Shami has not been considered. It is believed that he is not fully fit yet.

India also included uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran and Harshit Rana in the squad, but the main talk was about the inclusion of Nitish Reddy. Nitish, a 21-year-old all-rounder, won the Emerging Player of the Tournament award in IPL 2024 and made headlines with his batting performance in the recent T20 matches against Bangladesh.

Nitish's role will be important

Nitish's inclusion in the red-ball cricket team has given India a crucial all-rounder option, which they have been missing for the last few years. Nitish is expected to make his Test debut on the Australia tour and with no direct rival for the role of fast-bowling all-rounder, he could cement his place in the team.

Jasprit Bumrah will lead India's fast bowling attack, which will include Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akashdeep and Yash Thakur. It will be an interesting headache for the management to pick their preferred playing XI, but Prasidh and Akash are likely to pair up with Bumrah in a three-member fast bowling attack, while Nitish could be the fourth option.

There will be a fight between Jadeja and Washington

In spin, either Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja are likely to find a place in the playing XI for most matches in Australia. Spinners will get minimal help on Australia's green surfaces, so the management may use either Jadeja or Sundar, who may perform better with the bat than the veteran Ashwin.

India's probable playing against Australia:-

Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar/Jadeja, Akashdeep, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna