India’s batting prodigy Prithvi Shaw, who has been likened to Sachin Tendulkar and mentored by the cricket legend, will play his first Test in Australia but chirpy wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been axed.
Tim Paine opted against naming an XI for the day-night Test, wanting to keep the tourists guessing before Thursday’s toss at Adelaide Oval.
Virat Kohli adopted a different approach, getting on the front foot prior to his first and final Test of the summer.
Shaw logged scores of zero, 19, 40 and three in India’s tour games but was always expected to open alongside Mayank Agarwal.
It comes two years after Shaw, then 19 years old, suffered a freakish ankle injury in Sydney that forced him to miss the entire 2018/19 series.
Shaw’s technique and talent has resulted in multiple comparisons with India’s greatest batsman, especially after the teenager became the youngest Indian to make a Test century since Tendulkar.
“Prithvi has performed at Test level but he will be playing in Australia for the first time, so I think it’s very exciting to see his progress,” Kohli said.
“Mayank came through last time we toured here and he batted brilliantly without any baggage, that’s what you expect from the younger guys.
“They’ve got no baggage from the past, they just go out there and express themselves … play that brand of fearless cricket.”
The most contentious call was deciding whether incumbent Pant or fit-again veteran Wriddhiman Saha should get the gloves.
India opted to select 36-year-old Saha ahead of 23-year-old Pant, who was a vocal presence behind the stumps throughout their landmark triumph two years ago.
India great Sunil Gavaskar, whose name adorns the trophy that the sides are vying for, is among the pundits who felt Pant should have been given the nod.
Saha’s superior glovework ultimately trumped Pant’s form with the bat.
Pant scored 103 not out, including 22 runs off the final over of India’s innings, during the recent pink-ball tour game at the SCG.
Saha, who missed the IPL finals after tweaking both hamstrings, was out for a duck in the same match.
However, India coach Ravi Shastri recently declared Saha is the “best gloveman in the world”.
Umesh Yadav will join offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin plus star pacemen Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in a potent attack.
Meanwhile, Kohli suggested Steve Smith’s sore back would have zero impact on India’s plans for the top-ranked Test batsman in the world.
India XI: Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
© AAP
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