India’s Probable XI for second Test against West Indies

India’s Probable XI for second Test against West Indies : Sportsrush presents before you India’s Probable XI for the second Test.

There’s winning a Test match and then there is bulldozing the opposition. What India did in the first Test of the two-match series at Rajkot was the latter. In which was also India’s biggest Test win, it came under three days as the inexperienced opposition was left clueless across departments.

Despite the suggestions of experimenting coming from former cricketers, there are less chances of India making out of the blue changes to the playing eleven. The reason for the same would be to not break the winning momentum by fielding a settled playing eleven.

Giving the same players an extended go ahead of the all-important tour of Australia would be critical for team. Hence, expect the same set of players to take the field in Hyderabad on October 12. Below is India’s Probable Playing XI for the second Test:

1. Top-Order – Lokesh Rahul would be cursing himself for 149 overs in the dressing room for he missed a golden opportunity to register a significant individual total on a supporting wicket at Rajkot. In which is the last Test ahead of the tour of Australia, Rahul would be looking to make a mark in this format.

Prithvi Shaw, who scored a Test century on debut in the first Test, will open alongside Rahul. Batting at No. 3, Cheteshwar Pujara would be looking to count on his starts.

2. Middle-Order – The sight of Virat Kohli scoring a century at home looks so common that one takes his sublime touch as an expectation from the other batsmen as well. The Indian captain will once again be a monumental challenge against West Indies’ bowling unit.

Having hit a career-best 188 against New Zealand at Indore two years ago, Ajinkya Rahane has played 22 Test matches, scoring 982 runs at an average of 28.05 and a strike rate of 46.27. In these 37 innings, he has scored a lone century (against Sri Lanka last year) and five half-centuries.

These numbers are surely at sixes and sevens for a batsman of Rahane’s calibre. Also the vice-captain of the team, Rahane will have to take more responsibility for several questions on him have already been started to do rounds. Citing his confidence for the Australia tour in mind, Rahane would be desperately wanting to sort things out with his form.

The team management must be delighted to see the way Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja scored runs in the lower middle-order. If this duo continues its form for an extended time period, it might just be the difference India were looking for in Test cricket.

3. Bowlers – With six wickets in the match, Ravichandran Ashwin caused considerable trouble for the West Indian batsman at Rajkot. Kuldeep Yadav, who leaked runs at an economy rate of 6.62 in the first innings, came back from behind to grab his maiden five-fer on the same day in the second innings. This duo in collaboration with Jadeja is all in likeliness to prove too much for the opposition.

The fast bowling pair of Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav should also be not compromised for a debutant because they will form a vital part of the fast bowling attack down under.

Probable Playing XI for the second Test: 1) Prithvi Shaw 2) Lokesh Rahul 3) Cheteshwar Pujara 4) Virat Kohli (c) 5) Ajinkya Rahane 6) Rishabh Pant (wk) 7) Ravindra Jadeja 8) Ravichandran Ashwin 9) Kuldeep Yadav 10) Umesh Yadav 11) Mohammad Shami

If at all India would look to make a change to the playing eleven (highly unlikely), they might include Hanuma Vihari in place of a spinner at Hyderabad.

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