IND vs AUS, Adelaide Test Playing XI: Out-Of-Form Prithvi Shaw Selected, Saha To Keep Instead Of Pant

Prithvi Shaw has been chosen as the opener instead of in-form Shubman Gill along with Mayank Agarwal.

India's Prithvi Shaw (L) and Rishabh Pant walk from the field at the end of the days play during day two of the first Test cricket match between New Zealand and India at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on February 22, 2020. (Photo by Marty MELVILLE / AFP)

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the team India’s playing XI for the day-night Test against Australia starting Thursday in Adelaide. Also Read: ‘I Am The Representation Of New India, Ready To Take Up All Challenges,’ Says Virat Kohli India preferred Prithvi Shaw over an in-form Shubman Gill to partner Mayank Agarwal in the series-opener. Shaw has been in poor form and his technique has also been questioned but skipper Virat Kohli, during the pre-match press conference, made it clear that both Shubman Gill and KL Rahul are not in his scheme of things as of now. Also, veteran Wriddhiman Saha has been selected over Rishabh Pant, who scored a hundred in the pink ball practice game. Saha had scored a gutsy 50 that got more credence than Pant's 100 against slow bowlers, reported PTI. The four-Test series begin Thursday with a day/night contest. Here's the list of players: Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah. The series opener is going to be a day-night Test played with pink balls from Thursday. The board has chosen to go in with three seamers and one spinner in the first Test. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Umesh Yadav are the three pacers while Ravichandran Ashwin has been chosen as the lone spinner.

Virat Kohli will lead the team for this match before he pushes back to be with his pregnant wife Anushka Sharma. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will then take over the reigns for the last three matches of the 4-Test series. With the four-match Test series against Australia will be played in Adelaide from Thursday, Virat Kohli-led India will be looking to close the gap with Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table.

Team India currently hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after their historic 2-1 series win the last time they toured Australia in 2018-19. It was the first time an Indian team registered a Test series win Down Under. Prithvi Shaw posted a picture along with Wriddhiman Saha at the Sydney Harbour on Instagram. As of now, India holds third place in the ICC Men’s Test team rankings with 114 rating points, whereas Australia top the rankings with 116.46 rating points. It is followed by New Zealand in second spot with 116.37 rating points. New Zealand is very close to reaching the ICC World Test Championship final in 2021 after securing back-to-back innings wins against the West Indies.