Back to full fitness, Rohit replaces Pujara as vice-captain of Test team

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the updated team India squad for the remaining two matches of the Border Gavaskar series, and apart from the injury replacements, there was also a revelation about Rohit Sharma’s position in the squad, with Virat Kohli missing from the action.

In the updates squad, Rohit Sharma has been labelled as the vice-captain of the squad, a position occupied by the current stand-in Captain Ajinkya Rahane for so long before he took over the reins from Kohli after his departure from Australia.

The development means Cheteshwar Pujara, who was named the vice-captain of the side after Kohli’s departure and Rohit’s arrival in Australia, will no longer be the deputy to Rahane in the next two Tests.

There were rounds of resentment mong fans and it led to curiosity on social media about Pujara’s position in the leadership group of the team, but a BCCI official said news agency PTI that Rohit was certain to be the deputy to Rahane and that the option of Pujara as the vice-captain of the side was just a ‘stop-gap arrangement.’

Apart from the hint about the leadership group in the team, the development also more or less confirms Rohit Sharma’s chances of playing at the SCG. The team management will have to drop one among Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, or Shubman Gill if they continue to take the aggressive approach of playing five bowlers whereas if they decide to go in with just four bowlers, Rohit will replace Umesh Yadav from the playing XI of the last Test that India won at the MCG.

He was also seen doing what he does best with the bat--timing the cricket ball. He was seen practising against throwdowns from left arm over the wicket in a sign of preparation against Mitchell Starc who has proved to be a nemesis for another Indian opener Mayank Agarwal in the last Test at the MCG.

Team India Test squad

Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan

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Just go out there and enjoy: Will Pucovski reveals his cricket mantra

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Umesh Yadav and wife blessed with baby girl; BCCI wishes the paceman

Indian speedster Umesh Yadav and wife Tanya Wadhwa have been blessed with a baby and the Board of Control for Cricket in India congratulated the paceman on the happy news. Umesh has been ruled out of the ongoing Test series between Australia and India and can therefore now move back to India to be with his wife and newly born daughter. The BCCI apart from congratulating the Vidarbha player also wished him a speedy recovery from the injury. “Congratulations to @y_umesh on the birth of a baby girl today. We also wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him soon on the field,” the board tweeted from its official handle. Yadav, 33, has been replaced by T Natrajan in the team and it would be between Saini, Shardul Thakur, and Natarajan to take his place in the Sydney Test. Earlier in the day, Yadav, who has picked up 263 international wickets in 131 international games for the country, tweeted about the good news.

BCCI confirms T Natarajan as replacement for Umesh Yadav

Left-arm pacer T Natarajan has been added into the Indian squad as a replacement for the injured pacer Umesh Yadav for the remainder of the ongoing Test series against Australia. Umesh picked up an injury in his calf on the third day of the second Test at the MCG and went off the filed to never come back. On the other hand, Shardul Thakur was added into the squad as a replacement for Mohammed Shami who had broken his wrist after taking a hit on the third day morning in the first Test. Both Shardul Thakur and Natarajan are in contention for a place in the laying XI in place of Umesh Yadav in the third Test starting January 07 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). There have been reports about Shardul being considered ahead of Natarajan as the third seamer in the third Test, but Natarajan’s left-arm pace may bring in a much -needed variation in the pace department. “The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named T Natarajan as Yadav’s replacement. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Shardul Thakur was added to the Test squad as Mohd. Shami's replacement after the senior fast bowler suffered a hairline fracture in his right forearm. Both Shami and Umesh Yadav will head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further rehabilitation of their injuries,” BCCI said in its release. The BCCI has said that both Yadav and Shami will head to the National Cricket Academy to undergo their rehabilitation process after arrival in India. India will have other concerns to manage in the batting department as well with the return of Rohit Sharma, who is certain to play if he is physically in shape to take the field, and that will leave the team management with a key decision on whom to leave out among Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill.

Marnus Labuschagne admits Australians batsmen have been choked for runs

Marnus Labuschagne has been one of the top scorers with the bat for Australia, but he too will admit that he has looked way below he was batting against New Zealand and Pakistan in the last Australian summer. In Labuschagne's views, it is more to do with the pinpoint accuracy of the Indian bowling line up along with perfect field placement. Labuschagne has said that the tourists’ bowlers have been able to contain Australian batsmen as they have been relentless with their line of attack on stumps, along with packed leg aide field. He also said a lot of shots they used to get away with a four, have resulted in mere a single against India. "They've certainly come in with a plan... and made sure they're really not leaving the stumps and having a really heavy leg-side field. It obviously slows your scoring rate down because those shots you do get on your legs go for one, not four. We need to be very disciplined and we also need to come up with ways to put them under pressure," Labuschagne said in the virtual press conference. Labuschagne was troubled by Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, and after getting a reprieve by DRS, the right-hander was caught at the slip off Ashwin on a delivery that kept on going with the arm from round the wicket angle. The ongoing tour is fourth of Ashwin, and the wily off-spinner is showing all his tricks on Australian pitches and really making great use of his experience over the last three tours. Labuschangne commended Ashwin for his quality bowling and said that the way he has shown his class in the series, he deserves all the stats he owns in Test cricket. "I've never faced Ashwin before until this series. You don't have the stats that Ravi has without being a great bowler and also a great thinker. He's (Ashwin) obviously come in really prepared and they're being really crafty with their field and what they're trying to do. We have fallen into their trap a few times," Labuschagne said. Australia will challenge India’s comeback in Sydney in the third Test, and Labuschange has batted well on the SCG pitch. In the last summer, he scored a masterful double century against New Zealand, while he also showed his promise against the same opposition-- India during the last Border Gavaskar series. As the series has progressed to the third Test with Australian top order under pressure, Labuschange will be looking forward to rediscovering his fluency with the bat.