All eyes are currently fixed on the T20 series between India and Australia. India have already secure the T20 series as they lead 2-0 but are keen on wrapping up the third and final T20 at the SCG on December 8 and completing a series whitewash. India are the favorites for the third T20 with odds of 4/5 against Australia’s 1/1.
Tour Match Against Australia XI
While the T20 series is going on, a number of test hopefuls and regulars in the Indian test side are playing a 3 day tour match against an Australia A side that includes a number of promising Aussies who are trying to book themselves a place in the Australian test squad.
The tour match started on December 6 and will end on December 8. The match will most likely end up in a draw based on stats from the first two days of play. We take a look at what took place during the first two days, which Indian players impressed and which players failed.
Indian Batting Unit
India elected to bat first in the tour game and opened with P Shaw and S Gill. This was an important match for both openers as the opening combination for team India is up in the air with R Sharma not available for the first two sets. P Shaw and S Gill both got out for 0 and did nothing to impress the selectors.
C Pujara did his confidence a world of good by getting a half century under his belt in typical Pujara fashion. His 54 came off 140 balls and allowed him to spend time in the middle. G Vihari was promoted to four to stake his case for being the all-rounder option in the test side but he failed getting out for 15.
A Rahane who was the captain for this game led from the front and made an unbeaten 117 which allowed India to reach a respectable total of 247. The century is good news for both Rahane and Team India as the Indian vice-captain is such a crucial player in overseas test matches.
W Saha who is likely to be the wicket-keeper for the first two matches also failed and got out for 0. The bowlers made small contributions except for U Yadav who took the long handle and made 24 runs of 18 balls. India’s tail will have to wag in the test matches as 50 runs from the tail could make a world of difference in the rest of the game.
Indian Bowling Unit
U Yadav was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 wickets and bowling economically. He sent down 18 overs and conceded under 2.5 runs per over. M Siraj picked up two wickets but went at over 3.7 runs per over.
R Ashwin and K Yadav played as the two main spinners in the tour game and it was R Ashwin who picked up 2 wickets in his 19 overs and conceded just over 3 runs per over. K Yadav sent down 14 overs but was unable to pick up any wickets.
Our Playing XI For The First Test
The selectors need to get the playing XI right if they are going to win the first test at Adelaide. Those vying for a playing in the playing XI did themselves no favours by failing in the tour game. R Sharma is not available, R Jadeja could be out due to his hamstring injury and H Pandya who has done so well in the shorter format of the game is not part of the test series!
Our playing XI for the first test would be M Agarwal, KL Rahul, C Pujara, V Kohli, A Rahane, S Gill, W Saha, R Ashwin, U Yadav, M Shami, J Bumrah.
