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Virat Kohli has reportedly been withdrawn from the final Test of Australia’s four-match tour of India.
Ajinkya Rahane will captain India in Kohli’s absence. Shreyas Iyer will make his Test debut for India as Kohli’s replacement.
Kohli was given until the last minuet to prove his fitness, but the hosts’ skipper is restricted by the shoulder injury he suffered during the third Test.
Steve Smith called correctly for the third time in the four-Test series and opted to bat on a pitch that should offer pacemen Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar some early assistance.
“There is a bit of a grass … could be more bounce than on some of the earlier pitches,” Smith said.
Australia named an unchanged XI as expected, while the hosts called up debutant left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav and swing specialist Kumar in place of Kohli and veteran quick Ishant Sharma.
“He is not 100 per cent fit so that’s why he opted out,” stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane said of Kohli.
“It’s a very good track.”
Rahane, who became India’s 33rd Test captain, admitted he was also keen to bat first.
Kohli failed to fire a shot with the bat in the series, but the tourists were rightly wary about his potential to produce a match-winning innings when it mattered most.
The absence of Kohli’s leadership, aggression in the field and tactical mind will also boost Australia’s bid for their second Test series win in India since 1969.
Australia XI: David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Steve Smith (capt), Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
With AAP.
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