Amidst a heap of scrutiny regarding Team India’s 3rd pacer for the upcoming Border Gavaskar Test series against Australia, the former Aussie skipper Ian Chappell opened up on the hot topic. Ever since Ishant Sharma has been sidelined owing to his injury in IPL 2020, the visitors have been under pressure with the choice of bowlers at their disposal.
With Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, and Mohammad Siraj in the fray, it has become imminent that the visitors name their 3rd pacer ahead of the opening Test match in Adelaide from December 17th onwards. While there were little hopes of Sharma’s comeback, his fitness has completely put a lid on the thought.
And ahead of the day/night Test, Chappell revealed he had a conversation with India’s coach Ravi Shastri. As quoted by PTI, Chappell commented, “I was having a drink with Ravi (Shastri) the other day and he told me that probably (Umesh) Yadav will get the nod as the third pacer.”
In the virtual interactive session “Cricket Conversations”, Chappell expressed, “India have two smart quicks in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. If you ask me, if the team batting first scores 300, you are on your way to winning the Test match at Adelaide.”
Ahead of the Test rubber, Virat Kohli’s departure on grounds of paternal leave also has been in headlines down under. While it is perceived that Kohli-less India will be less potent in their attack, there is also rising concern about the potential replacement.
Lending his thoughts on the debate, Chappell opined Ajinkya Rahane will be a perfect replacement, “Well, I saw him captain in one Test against Australia (in Dharamsala in March 2017) and found his captaincy to be fabulous. He was really an aggressive captain.”
“I remember a couple of aspects about his captaincy. What stood out for me was in the Australian first innings, Warner was going well and getting on top of Indian bowlers. He brought in Kuldeep Yadav (debutant) and he dismissed Warner.”
“The second thing I remember was India chasing a low total and they lost a couple of wickets. Rahane just came in and attacked the Australian bowlers and scored some 20 odd (38 off 27 balls). I liked that approach,” he added.
