Former Australian legend Ian Chappell has finally revealed as to who will be team India’s third pacer in the upcoming Test series against Australia. Chappell has also highlighted as to how he got to know about India’s gameplan against Australia.
Notably, the Indian cricket team is not in good shape and a lot of their players are injured currently. This also includes star pacers Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar who have been ruled out of the Australian Test series.
Ian Chappell Reveals India’s Third Pacer Against Australia In The Test Series
Since team India is marred with injuries, a lot of pacers stand in contention to be the third Indian pacer apart from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. The list includes Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and Navdeep Saini.
Chappell has been a keen observer of the bilateral series Down Under while Ravi Shastri has been with the Indian team since the day they reached Australia. With just a week to go into the first Test of the series in Adelaide, Shastri has reportedly fixated on Umesh Yadav as India’s third pacer behind Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
“I was having a drink with Ravi (Shastri) the other day and he told me that probably (Umesh) Yadav will get the nod as the third pacer,” Chappell was quoted as saying in Scroll.
India Have Two Smart Pacers In Jasprit Bumrah And Mohammed Shami: Ian Chappell
“India have two smart quicks in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. If you ask me, if the team batting first scores 300, you are on your way to winning the Test match at the Adelaide,” Chappell added.
Ian Chappell also opined on the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane who is set to take over the role from Virat Kohli when the latter departs for India after the completion of the first Test.
“Well, I saw him captain in one Test against Australia (in Dharamsala in March, 2017) and found his captaincy to be fabulous. He was really an aggressive captain,” he stated.
The Indian team’s Test campaign against Australia will begin from December 17 as the first Test will get underway at the Adelaide Oval. The first Test will be a Day-Night Pink-Ball Test match, which will be the first Day-Night Test match between India and Australia.