Team India Test Series Best Squad for Australia Tour 2020-21

Rohit Sharma expected to return as we look at the predicted Test squad for India for the Australia tour 2020-21.

As the competitive IPL 2020 reaches its flag end, the newly selected Indian selectors comprising of Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh are going to meet next week in the highly awaited Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. This would be the first bilateral series for Team India since the tour of Australia’s neighbors, New Zealand. 

The last time India toured Australia in 2018, India created history by defeating Australia 2-1 for the first time in history. While factually, Australia were without their best batsmen, David Warner and Steve Smith, the upcoming series is guaranteed to have both their batsmen back in the squad.   

Coming to the Indian squad, the last time, India named an 18-member squad for the series which had many faces not active currently like Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, and Parthiv Patel. Given the longevity of the series, India are expected to name an 18-member squad with a few name names expected to return from the squad that played against New Zealand. 

Alright then, let’s look at the predicted Test series squad for Team India for the Australia tour 2020-21.

Openers:

Mayank Agarwal || Prithvi Shaw || Rohit Sharma

New Zealand tour saw Shubman Gill taking the place of Rohit Sharma, who got injured in the limited-overs series against New Zealand. With Rohit Sharma back to fitness, he should take the place of Shubman Gill, and act as Team India’s second-choice opener alongside in-form Mayank Agarwal.

The other discussion could be about the in-form KL Rahul, who has been breathing fire in the limited-overs format in the last year. However, his red-ball form has been poor, and he has been out of the squad for quite some time now. Prithvi Shaw, his competitor has been a regular member of the Test squad, and even though he had a bad New Zealand tour, he should continue with the selection.  

Middle-order:

Ajinkya Rahane || Cheteshwar Pujara || Hanuma Vihari
Rishabh Pant (WK) || Virat Kohli (C) || Wriddhiman Saha (WK)

The middle-order looks more or less settled for Team India, and should not see any surprises in the squad. Hence, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane continue to be Team India’s core with Hanuma Vihari as the key backup.  Meanwhile, wicket-keeping should see Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha taking the centre stage. Among the two, Rishabh Pant seems more potent to feature in the first Test given his performance last time around. 

All-rounders:

Hardik Pandya || Ravichandran Ashwin || Ravindra Jadeja

The All-round department could see the return of the ‘to be a father’, Hardik Pandya. Hardik has been out of the Test squad for quite some time now due to injury. However, with him back to fitness, and Australia’s pitches suiting his abilities, he should be back in the squad. Meanwhile, the other all-rounder spots remain unchanged with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. 

Bowlers:

Ishant Sharma / Mohammed Siraj || Jasprit Bumrah || Kuldeep Yadav
Mohammed Shami || Navdeep Saini || Umesh Yadav

Team India played 5 pacers in the series against New Zealand with Bumrah, Shami, and Ishant as the key pacers, and Saini and Umesh as backups. While apart from Saini, the other four are most likely to continue. However, Saini might just be kept in the squad for his abilities and grooming sessions. But, it is yet to be seen if Ishant Sharma is named in the squad. Ishant, as well all know is currently injured, and might miss out from the Test squad. Mohammed Siraj should be named as his replacement in case he isn’t selected.

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav should be back in the squad given some of Australia’s pitches favour spin. Kuldeep can act as a valuable backup for Jadeja and Ashwin, and may also edge them if the pitch favors spin. So, that’s the predicted squad for Team India for the Test series against Australia. Given below is the complete break-up of the team. While the series is almost half-year away, we should most-likely see near to the same squad for the series. 

Predicted Team India’s Test series squad for Australia Tour 2020-21:

Batsmen	Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant (WK), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C) & Wriddhiman Saha (WK)
All-rounders	Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin & Ravindra Jadeja
Bowlers	Ishant Sharma / Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini & Umesh Yadav

Predicted Team India Test Series Squad for Australia Tour 2020-21:

Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma / Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Prithvi Shaw, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant (WK), Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha (WK).

Thanks for reading! Do you guys think KL Rahul should be given another chance in the Test team? Please email your comments on business@cricalytics.com

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