Rohit Sharma comes back while Navdeep Saini is set to make his debut as the duo has been included in the XI which was announced on the eve of the 3rd Test against Australia which begins on Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Rohit Sharma will open the batting with Shubman Gill who will play his 2nd Test and young Navdeep Saini will make his debut in the third Test against Australia as India announced their playing XI for the all-important encounter beginning Thursday 7th January 2021 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Rohit Sharma’s Inclusion Means Mayank Agarwal’s Omission While Navdeep Saini Debuts After Injured Umesh Yadav Ruled Out
Rohit Sharma’s inclusion as an opener means Mayank Agarwal has to sit out after he failed to garner significant scores in the first two Tests. Navdeep Saini, on the other hand, replaced injured Umesh Yadav in India’s playing XI.
Umesh Yadav picked up an injury in the middle of 4th over during the second innings of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. He had sustained a strain in his left calf muscle after which he underwent scans later that day.
The BCCI further stated that the fast bowler Umesh Yadav won’t be able to recover completely ahead of the remaining two Test matches and hence was ruled out of the series joining likes of Mohammed Shami and KL Rahul who were ruled out too after suffering an injury while Virat Kohli remains a notable absentee as he had headed home.
NEWS – #TeamIndia announce Playing XI for the 3rd Test against Australia at the SCG.
Navdeep Saini is all set to make his debut.#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/lCZNGda8UD
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 6, 2021
Navdeep Saini leaked more than 150 runs in first two ODIs but played well in the warm-up game picking 3 wickets. He has played 7 ODIs and 10 T20Is besides 46 first-class matches where he picked 128 wickets averaging 28.46. His bowling average is pathetic in ODIs but is 18.07 in T20Is where he picked 13 scalps.
Rohit Sharma Will Be Seen At Top Of Batting Order: Ajinkya Rahane
Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane said Rohit Sharma, who is also named as the vice-captain of the side, has been batting reasonably well in the nets and he would be seen batting at the top of the innings in the Pink Test at Sydney.
“He [Rohit] has been batting really well, the last couple of series, he has been playing as an opener, so you will definitely see him batting at the top,” said Rahane.
India have decided to put faith on their spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who shared a total of 8 wickets at the MCG, which India won by eight wickets.
Debutants in the Melbourne Test, Shubman Gill who totaled 80 runs and Mohammed Siraj who picked 5 wickets have been retained while Hanuma Vihari has got another chance to prove himself as his competitor KL Rahul was ruled out from last two Tests after suffering injury.
India’s Playing XI vs Australia for 3rd Test: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah