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Pakistan on Monday announced their 12-man squad for the upcoming Boxing Day clash against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with Mohammad Rizwan replacing experienced wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed. Sarfaraz has been sidelined from the Test squad after the nightmare he went through in the Peth Test. He scored just 7 runs in both innings with Mitchell Starc causing him all sorts of trouble.
As the Indian cricket team gears up for the ultimate test in South Africa, a country where it has never won a series in the longest format, the debate over the team's best XI has engaged social media, with fans contemplating if India should go with two spinners or just one. When it comes to SENA countries, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja haven't played together a lot, and ahead of the first Test, former India opener Gautam Gambhir feels only one of the two spinners will get the team management's nod.
JOHANNESBURG : KL Rahul is likely to don the wicketkeeper gloves for India in the first Test against South Africa that begins in Pretoria on Tuesday, despite having started only one first class match in the role in the past.
With his frontline pacers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi hitting the nets ahead of the 'Boxing Day' Test, South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad on Saturday expressed confidence that India won't be able to breach their 'Final Frontier' in the upcoming series. Rabada was rested from the white ball leg as he was nursing a heel niggle while Ngidi pulled out after sustaining a left ankle injury ahead of the T20Is. On Saturday afternoon though, Rabada and Ngidi bowled full tilt at the centre training wicket of the Supersport Park and facing them was Dean Elgar, who is playing in his last series. The Centurion track is a pacer's dream although India did get the better of South Africa last time around. The head coach would want his lethal weapons to fire on all cylinders.
Ahead of India's first Test against South Africa at Centurion, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid said on Sunday that the series being a short, two-match affair leaves India with less time to bounce back from any adversity and the team is motivated to roar back into their winning ways following the dissapointment of ICC Cricket World Cup final loss to Australia. India will kickstart the two-match Test series against South Africa with the first Test at Centurion from Tuesday onwards. For many seniors like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, this will be their first international assignment following the loss to Australia in the World Cup finals last month.
India's veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli sweated it out in companionable silence in the nets during team's practice session on Sunday. India will be aiming for their maiden Test series win in South Africa when they take on the Proteas in a two-match series, starting December 26. There's a 31-year jinx in Indian cricket having missed out on a Test series win in the 'Rainbow Nation' and in the twilight zone of their careers, both Rohit and Kohli would want to achieve which no other Indian teams could.
Pakistan's injury woes went from bad to worse Sunday with off-spinner Abrar Ahmed the third player in as many days to be ruled out of the second Test against Australia. Ahmed missed their 360-run defeat in Perth with leg discomfort, and while improving, he has not recovered sufficiently to take part in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. "Considering the nature of the injury and the workload required from a spinner in a Test match, Abrar is not yet ready and will therefore not be available for the second Test," the Pakistan Cricket Board said.
Legendary Indian cricket team Sunil Gavaskar picked the playing XI for the first Test match against South Africa starting December 26 in Centurion and there were a couple of massive changes in the batting order. Gavaskar picked Rohit Sharma and youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal as the openers with Shubman Gill coming out to bat at No.3.and Virat Kohli at No. 4. KL Rahul was his wicket-keeper pick with Shreyas Iyer accompanying him in the middle order. Gavaskar said that both Rahul and Shreyas are good batters and it will depend on the situation to decide who bats at No. 5 and who comes out at No. 6.