India defines XI for Adelaide Test: Shaw, Saha and Ashwin in the starting lineup

India Defines its XI for the Adelaide Test

Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, and Prithvi Shaw have been selected to represent India in the Adelaide Test. Umesh Yadav completes the trio of fast bowlers. These were the main questions India was considering two days before the Test: whether to continue supporting the energetic Shaw, whether to play a spin bowler and persist with the safer option of Ashwin, and which of the wicketkeepers should play. On the eve of the day-night Test, they cleared up all doubts by naming their XI. Shaw was under pressure, as Shubman Gill performed better in the two tour matches, impressing figures like Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar. However, Shaw was the starting opener and proved in a four-run innings in New Zealand that he can be destructive. He scored 0, 19, 40 and 3 in the two tour matches, but more than the scores, it was his loose shots that worried Gavaskar and Border. It is understood that, with a settled middle order, India wanted continuity at the top as well and opted for the starter.

Similarly, the spin-bowling spearhead, especially with Ravindra Jadeja’s absence due to injury and concussion, retained his place. The last time India chose not to play Ashwin in a series opener was on the 2014-15 Australia tour, a decision that was criticized for the inclusion of Karn Sharma, whose lack of experience was noticeable on a pitch where Australia’s spin bowler, Nathan Lyon, proved to be a game-changer.

While it’s reasonable to play Ashwin, this time it could have been argued not to play a spin bowler at all in the first match of the series because in day-night Tests in Australia, spin bowlers have averaged 49 despite Lyon’s superior average of 25 in these matches. Lyon’s success is perhaps a sign that world-class spin bowlers have the opportunity to correct these statistics based on a small sample of seven Tests. There is no doubt that Ashwin and Lyon have been the top two spin bowlers in Test cricket, followed only slightly by Jadeja, in this decade.

In the case of the wicketkeeper, however, India dropped the incumbent Pant, who has been preferred to Saha in Tests outside of Asia, where most of the wicketkeeping 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 spin bowlers. The team management seems to have decided that the pink ball does a lot and will require a more established pure wicketkeeper. And despite Pant’s century in the SCG warm-up, he had an ordinary tour of New Zealand, scoring 60 runs in four innings. He has not yet played for India in any international cricket since then. 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