The Indian team management has reached the last stage of auditioning the blokes before locking the final 15 for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup. On Saturday, they began with trying out Vijay Shankar in the playing XI for the first ODI against Australia in Hyderabad.
Shankar was a bit expensive with the ball, leaking 22 runs in 3 overs, but he didn’t disappoint with his fielding. He took a stunning catch in the deep to help Kuldeep Yadav breaking a giant 87-run partnership between Marcus Stoinis and Usman Khawaja.
During the 24th over, Kuldeep Yadav was into the attack while Khawaja had the strike and already struck his 4th ODI fifty. He danced down the track and decided to hit it in the air with the spin over mid-wicket. Unfortunately, he got the placement wrong and ended up finding Shankar at deep mid-wicket who didn’t make any mistake in grabbing the ball.
“Vijay Shankar’s wicket, more than Kuldeep Yadav’s wicket,” said Sunil Gavaskar on air.
Here’s the video:
Earlier, Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat against India in the first ODI of the five-match series here on Saturday. India included Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI in place of Yuzvendra Chahal, who has been rested.
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli(capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia: Aaron Finch(capt), Usman Khawaja, Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff.