Ajinkya Rahane Refuses To Kangaroo Cake, Video Goes Viral
Ajinkya Rahane. (Image Credit: Getty Images).

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially announced India’s playing XI for the second Test against Australia, which is scheduled to begin on December 26 at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj will make the Test debut in the Boxing Day Test while Ravindra Jadeja, who was injured, has returned in the playing XI.

Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team in Virat Kohli’s absence. After the disappointing defeat in the first Test, everyone has high expectations from Rahane to guide the team to a strong comeback.

Prithvi Shaw dropped from India’s playing XI:

Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill. Image Credit: Twitter.

Prithvi Shaw has been dropped after his technical flaws were exposed by Australian bowlers in the first Test. The youngster was out for 0 and 4 runs in the two innings. And thus, Shubman Gill, who had impressed with his innings in two warm-up games, has been replaced with his former U-19 captain. Gill will be the opening partner of Mayank Agarwal.

Hanuma Vihari, who usually plays at n.5 or no.6, is likely to be promoted to the number four position, where Kohli bats. The 27-year-old has big shoes to fill.

Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant. Credits: Twitter

The wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who could not prove his case with the bat in the first Test, has been benched while Rishabh Pant has been swooped in his place for the all-important second Test. Team India will hope Pant could repeat his last year’s tour of Australia when he scored an unbeaten century.

As far as the bowling department is concerned, the allrounder Ravindra Jadeja will be the bowling partner of Ravichandran Ashwin, who notched five wickets with the pink ball in Adelaide. Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah will be the two premier pacers while Mohammed Siraj, who has impressive first-class records, will make his Test debut.