India vs Australia: BCCI announces squad for last two Tests and ODIs

India vs Australia: BCCI announces Tests, ODI squad, Hardik Pandya to captain in 1st ODI against Australia

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squad for the third and 4th Tests against Australia with a big difference in terms of the designation of KL Rahul. The Karnataka batter, who has been going through a poor run of form, is no longer holding the ‘vice-captain’ tag in front of his name in the latest board’s squad announcement, leaving fans scratching their heads with the decision. 

Rahul’s sequence of scores in the last seven innings have been 22, 23, 10, 2, 20, 17, and 1. And, it has been the central discussion point in the Indian squad that has done fairly well in the two concluded Tests against Australia. 

Following the dominant victory in the series opener in Nagpur, where India won by an inning and 132 runs inside, India was able to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by securing a 6-wicket win against Aussies in the second Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. 

With this recent victory, the team India has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series against Australia.

In the second innings, the Indian spin duo, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, showcased their prowess once again, when Australia seemed to be in a relatively stable position at 85/2 with Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne at the crease. However, after the dismissal of Smith, Jadeja quickly dismantled the Australian middle order, and the visitors crumbled to a meager total of 113 runs.

The left-arm spinner delivered his career-best bowling performance of 42/7, while Ashwin claimed the remaining three wickets, cruising India towards victory on the third day of the match.

During the first innings, Australia was dismissed for 263, with Mohammed Shami taking 4 wickets and Jadeja and Ashwin sharing 6 wickets between them. Usman Khawaja looked in fine form, scoring 81 runs. Additionally, Peter Handscomb contributed with 72, while captain Pat Cummins added 33 runs to the total.

In reply, India managed to score 262 runs, with the lower-middle order playing a crucial role, in addition to Rohit (32) and Virat (44). Axar Patel top-scored with 74 runs, while Ashwin managed 37 runs. Nathan Lyon stood out for Australia with the ball, taking a fifer.

TEST SQUAD FOR INDIA’S THIRD AND FOURTH TEST AGAINST AUSTRALIA

Rohit Sharma (Captain), K L Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, KS Bharat (wk), Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

INDIA SQUAD FOR ODI SERIES

Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur.

India’s victory in the second Test has propelled them significantly closer to securing a place in the final of the World Test Championship and potentially claiming the No. 1 position in the ICC Test rankings. The third Test between India and Australia will begin on March 1 at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

Over the past few years, India have emerged victorious in their last three Test series against Australia, two of which were won on Australian soil. Meanwhile, Australia has been unable to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for almost a decade, with their last possession being in 2014-15 after winning a home series 2-0.

KOHLI FASTEST TO REACH 25K INTERNATIONAL RUNS

Run machine Virat Kohli was the third batsman to be dismissed after scoring 20 runs. However, before departing, he again created history by becoming the fastest player to reach 25,000 or more runs in international cricket, achieving this feat in just 549 innings and becoming the sixth batsman ever to enter this elite club.

WHAT INDIA’S VICTORY MEANS FOR WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP RACE

India’s emphatic win over Australia in the second Test had major ramifications in the race to reach this year’s ICC World Test Championship final. 

As the victory saw India improve to a win-percentage of 64.06%, but their place in June’s decider at The Oval is still not locked in as they can still be overtaken by Sri Lanka, should results go against them.

For the final show, the race is now down to three sides, with South Africa ruled out of reaching the final following India’s victory in Delhi.

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The highest South Africa can rise to is 55%, which is less than the lowest amount that India can finish on.

* Teams will be ranked on percentage of points won

* For slow over-rates teams will lose one championship point for each over short.

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