Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan, who were with Team India as a net bowler for the Test series against Australia, have been included in the Test squad for the third Test in Sydney, scheduled to begin on January 7. Shardul has replaced Mohammed Shami while Natarajan has entered the squad in place of Umesh Yadav, who picked calf injury.
Shardul Thakur has returned to the Test squad after 2018 when he got injured during the Test match against West Indies. On the other hand, T Natarajan will make his debut if got a place in the playing XI.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named T Natarajan as Yadav’s replacement. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Shardul Thakur was added to the Test squad as Mohd. Shami’s replacement after the senior fast bowler suffered a hairline fracture in his right forearm. Both Shami and Umesh Yadav will head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further rehabilitation of their injuries. Rohit Sharma has completed his quarantine and has now joined the Indian Cricket Team in Melbourne,” BCCI said in a statement.
India got the first huge setback when Mohammed Shami injured his bowling arm while batting in the second innings of India during the first Test. His ouster was claimed to result in the downfall of India in the second Test but Mohammed Siraj beautifully covered his role. He made his Test debut and picked up four wickets in that match guiding India to victory by eight wickets.
India was still recovering from Shami’s ouster and Umesh Yadav sustained d a strained calf muscle and didn’t come to bowl in the second innings in MCG. However, his ouster in the middle didn’t harm India because of the all-around efforts from other bowlers.
Shardul Thakur likely to preferred:
Having more international experience than Natarajan, Shardul Thakur is likely to be preferred over the left-arm pace sensation in the Sydney Test. But India team management will also consider Natrajan’s prolific performance in Australia in the third ODI and three-match T20I series.
Currently, the four-match Test series is levelled with Australia winning the opening match. India’s strong comeback was majorly credited to Ajinkya Rahane for his street-smart captaincy. The stand-in captain’s fielding placement to changes in the bowling was appreciated by cricket boffins. Apart from captaincy, he also played a gritty knock with the bat to score a century and demolish the strong bowling attack of Australia.