Jasprit Bumrah not playing: India have taken the field in the fourth Test at the Gabba without their premier fast bowler.
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During the first day of the fourth Test of the ongoing India’s tour of Australia in Brisbane, Australia captain Tim Paine won the toss and chose to bat in a bid to make optimum use of a good batting pitch especially on the first two days.
“We will bat first. It’s good to be back out here, we have played good cricket here. It’s a bit dry and you can see a few cracks already, but should be a good pitch to bat for the first two days. Great opportunity for Marcus Harris,” Paine told Fox Sports at the toss.
As confirmed yesterday, Australia have made a solitary change to their Playing XI without opening batsman Marcus Harris replacing Will Pucovski who had suffered a shoulder injury in the third Test in Sydney.
india came within touching distance of having to debut their throwdown specialist #AUSvsIND
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) January 15, 2021
Why is Jasprit Bumrah not playing today’s 4th Test vs Australia?
On the other hand, injuries to their first-choice players have bereft India from playing their best XI. Barring wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, all other four players who had suffered respective injuries in Sydney couldn’t in recover in time to take field at the Gabba today.
The development resulting in a rare situation where the visitors handed Test debuts to all-rounder Washington Sundar and fast bowler T. Natarajan. While Sundar was part of the T20I squad, Natarajan had made his white-ball debuts earlier on this tour. Both the players had been accompanying the Test side as net bowlers before making their debut today.
Opening batsman Mayank Agarwal, who was dropped after disappointing returns in the first two Tests, has been reinstated but will bat in the middle-order this time. The fourth change for India lies in Shardul Thakur who is playing his first Test after 27 months.
“We had to make changes but it’s opportunity for others. Looking forward to start well. Both the debutants play the shorter formats, just want them to enjoy the game. This is a big rivalry for us. We don’t want to think too far ahead, just want to start well,” India captain Ajinkya Rahane told Fox Sports.
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who had suffered an abdominal strain in the third Test, is a substantial absentee from the Indian XI. Apart from Bumrah, Hanuma Vihari (hamstring), Ravindra Jadeja (finger dislocation) and Ravichandran Ashwin (back injury) have also missed this Test.
Despite so many injuries, India spinner Kuldeep Yadav not getting an opportunity on this tour has come a major surprise for the Indian fans. Part of the original Test squad, India didn’t pick Yadav despite Jadeja and Ashwin not playing seems to be because of their urge to bolster the batting for Sundar easily pins down Yadav on the batting front.
