India retain winning team for first two Australia Tests
mumbai — India have kept faith with the 16-man squad that cruised to victory in the one-off Test against Bangladesh for the first two matches of the home series against Australia starting next week.
The world’s top-ranked Test side are unbeaten in their last 19 contests and completed a comprehensive 208-run win against their South Asian neighbours on Monday in an ideal warm-up for the four matches to come against Australia.
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who missed the last two Tests of the recent five-match series against England with a leg injury, was not considered fit enough for selection to the side named on Tuesday.
Batsman Rohit Sharma, who injured his thigh during the one-day international series against New Zealand in October, only recently
India-Australia fixtures
> February 23-27: 1st Test Pune > March 4-8: 2nd Test bengaluru > March 16-20: 3rd Test ranchi > March 25-29: 4th Test dharamsala resumed training after undergoing surgery in England and was also deemed short of match fitness.
Uncapped left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav replaced injured leg-spinner Amit Mishra in the squad for the Bangladesh Test and he retained his place for the first two Tests against the secondranked Australians.
Mishra hurt his knee while fielding during India’s Twenty20 win over England in Bengaluru on Feb. 1.
Pune will make its debut as a Test venue for the series-opener from Feb. 23, before the sides move on to Bengaluru and two more new Test venues in Ranchi and Dharamsala.
Meanwhile, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar praised current skipper Virat Kohli’s leadership skills after India defeated Bangladesh by 208 runs in the one-off Test at Hyderabad on Monday.
Praising Kohli’s leadership, the Indian legend excuded confidence that Kohli will make it 19 victories at the end of four-Test series against Australia. “I think Virat Kohli’s unbeaten run as captain is going to extend. He has a good chance of equalling Clive Lloyd’s record,” Gavaskar said .
From 1982 to 1984, Lloyd-led the West Indies team to record. The legendary skipper was in charge of 26 of the 27 games, with Viv Richards standing in as captain for one game. Speaking about the upcoming Test series between India and Australia, Gavaskar, however, warned that the upcoming series isn’t going to be easy. — Agencies
Probable teams
> India squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, ajinkya rahane, Wriddhiman saha (wicketkeeper), ravichandran ashwin, ravindra Jadeja, Ishant sharma, bhuvneshwar Kumar, umesh yadav, Karun nair, Jayant yadav, Kuldeep yadav, abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya. > Australia squad: david Warner, Matt renshaw, usman Khawaja, steven smith(c), Peter Handscomb, steve O’Keefe, Josh Hazlewood, nathan Lyon, shaun Marsh, Jackson bird, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell swepson, ashton agar, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell starc.