If Gautam Gambhir‘s strange reply of “We will take the Playing XI call after looking at the pitch tomorrow” to a simple question posed as ‘Will Rohit Sharma play tomorrow?’ didn’t confirm that the Indian captain was dropped, the fielding and catching practice that took just after the press conference ended in Sydney did.
Slip cordon for Sydney sans Rohit Sharma
Minutes after refusing to comment on changes the India cricket team will make for the India vs Australia 5th Test, Gambhir entered the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to overlook practice. The odd thing was that Rohit Sharma, who’s been Team India’s man at first slip for some time now, wasn’t fielding in the slip cordon.
His place was taken by Virat Kohli, who usually is at the second slip. KL Rahul, who is generally stationed at third slip, moved to second while Nitish Kumar Reddy took over Rahul’s original spot. The only two people to remain unchanged were Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper, and Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully.
Not Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill at 1st slip for spinners
Some might say, so what? Nothing changes if Rohit Sharma isn’t fielding at first slip in a drill. Well, apart from the fact that we are less than 20 hours away from the India vs Australia 5th Test starting, there was another thing. Shubman Gill, who was dropped in Melbourne, was also part of these drills.
Not just any drills. Gambhir himself was feeding balls to Gill to practice catching at first slip. Once again, that’s where Rohit Sharma has been stationed since Ajinkya Rahane was dropped from the team in 2022. So, the Indian captain’s designated position has been changed in both the slip cordons. That definitely spells out what’s about to happen in Sydney on January 3 when the teams are announced.
KL Rahul back as opener, Prasidh Krishna comes in for Akash Deep
This also means that KL Rahul, who was demoted to number three in Melbourne, despite being India’s best batter until then, will in all likelihood return back to the top. He’ll open with Jaiswal, and Gill will also return. He’ll take back his number three spot from Rahul. Apart from this, Prasidh Krishna will also walk into the side as Akash Deep has been ruled out of the Sydney Test due to a back spasm. And of course, Jasprit Bumrah will lead the side once again.
Team India’s likely XI for the Sydney Test
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
