Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Rahul no longer vice-captain; Bumrah to miss entire Aus series

Last updated on: February 20, 2023 11:29 IST

Out-of-form KL Rahul retains his place for last two Tests, pacer Jayden Unadkat recalled for three-match ODI series.

IMAGE: K L Rahul has managed just 38 runs in three innings in the ongoing Test series against Australia. Photograph: BCCI

India named an unchanged squad for the last two Tests again Australia on Sunday, leaving out pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah who is recovering from a back injury.

Bumrah has not played international cricket since September and missed the T20 World Cup in Australia.

He was left out of the first two Tests against Australia but India captain Rohit Sharma was optimistic the 29-year-old would be available for the last two matches of the series.

With India 2-0 up in the series and a 50-overs home World Cup looming later this year, the selectors have also kept Bumrah out of the one-day squad for the three-match series against Australia next month.

 

Rohit will miss the opening ODI on March 17 "due to family commitments", the Indian cricket board said, and Hardik Pandya will lead the side in Mumbai.

Struggling opener KL Rahul retained his place for the last two Tests against Australia but is no longer vice-captain of the side.

Head coach Rahul Dravid said that the team management would like to give him a longer run.

Following the win at Kotla on Sunday, skipper Rohit also backed the under-fire Rahul.

"Of late, there has been lot of talk on his batting. But for us as team management, we always look at the potential of any individual, not just KL. I have been asked in the past about lot of players. If a guy has potential, guys will get that extended run," Rohit said.

"It is not just about KL, but anyone. If you look at couple of hundreds, he got outside India (England 2021 and South Africa 2022), one of the best I have seen from KL, especially the one at Lord's," he added.

Besides naming the Test squad, the four selectors, following the unceremonious exit of selection committee chief Chetan Sharma, also picked the team for the three ODIs against Australia beginning March 17.

Seasoned left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who was part of the squad for the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before being released to represent Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy final against Bengal, is back in the team for the remaining two games.

The Saurashtra skipper also finds himself in the ODI squad for the three-match series against Australia. He last played an ODI back in 2013, but the selectors have shown faith in the veteran, highlighting the lack of quality left-arm pacers in the country.

The much younger Arshdeep Singh was tried in ODIs recently but has not made the cut for the Australia series.

From the last ODI squad picked for the New Zealand series, Shahbaz Ahmed and K S Bharat are the expected omissions.

Ishan Kishan is the designated wicketkeeper in the 50-over squad and not Rahul, as per the BCCI release.

Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Srikar Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat

ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat

AGENCIES