India reveals its lineup for the Adelaide Test
Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, and Prithvi Shaw have been selected to represent India in the Adelaide Test. Umesh Yadav will be the third fast bowler. These were the main questions India was contemplating two days before the Test: whether to continue supporting the energetic Shaw, whether to play with a bowler and persist with the safer option of Ashwin, and which of the goalkeepers should play. On the eve of the day-night Test, they resolved all the confusion by naming the XI. Shaw had been under pressure, with Shubman Gill performing better in the two tour matches. However, Shaw was the starting opener and proved in a four-run innings in New Zealand that he can be destructive.
In the case of the wicketkeeper, India dropped the regular Pant, who has been preferred to Saha in Tests outside Asia, where most of the wicketkeeping work is done standing back. It is in India where the team management believes that Saha’s superior wicketkeeping skills come into play when standing up to the bowlers. The team management seems to have decided that the pink ball does a lot and will require a more established wicketkeeper.
Yadav was the favorite to be India’s third fast bowler, replacing the injured Ishant Sharma. Not only does he have Test experience, this is his fourth tour of Australia, but he also impressed in the only warm-up match he played, taking 3 for 48 and 1 for 14 and also scoring useful runs in the lower order. India XI: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (captain), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Hanuma Vihari, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
