India Playing XI 3rd Test: India DROP out-of-form KL Rahul for Shubman Gill, Mohammad Shami RESTED for Umesh Yadav, Follow IND vs AUS LIVE Updates

India Playing XI 3rd Test: Border Gavaskar Trophy – As reported by InsideSport earlier, India have dropped out-of-form and under fire KL Rahul has been dropped for Shubman Gill. The other big change is Mohammad Shami. He has been rested for Umesh Yadav. With a single win away from sealing the World Test Championship berth, Rohit Sharma and Co take on Australia in the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Series at Indore. Follow India vs Australia Live Updates with INSIDESPORT.IN.

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

India Playing XI 3rd Test: India DROP out-of-form KL Rahul for Shubman Gill, Mohammad Shami RESTED for Umesh Yadav, Follow IND vs AUS LIVE Updates

IND vs AUS: After BOLD 4-0 Prediction, ex-BCCI chief weighs in on KL Rahul selection, says ‘If you don’t score runs in India, you will get flak’

Both Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid face a massive headache regarding the selection of KL Rahul in the starting XI. Now stripped off his vice-captaincy, Rahul’s place in the team hangs on thin ice. Failing to score big runs despite getting chances to perform has brought criticism on Rahul from the cricket pundits.

Rahul has failed to notch up a 25-run mark on his last 10 Test games and has a subpar average of just 35 after having played 47 Test matches for the country. Now the question arises, who can replace KL Rahul? The answer is simple. India has quite a few options. Youngster Shubman Gill is desperate to get his chance.

Shubman Gill or KL Rahul – Selection Dilemma

Gill has been in red-hot form slamming centuries and double centuries in the previous month. However, the management decided to keep Rahul as the second opener. The management will keep their faith in Rahul in this game as almost a last chance for the player to step up his game and get some runs on the board.

KL Rahul’s recent performance in Test Cricket

MATCH	Bat	Date	Ground	Format
India vs Australia	17 & 1	17-Feb-2023	Delhi	Test
India vs Australia	20	09-Feb-2023	Nagpur	Test
India vs Bangladesh	10 & 2	22-Dec-2022	Mirpur	Test
India vs Bangladesh	22 & 23	14-Dec-2022	Chattogram	Test

With KL Rahul getting his chance to play in the Test match, the wait continues for young Shubman Gill. Apart from Gill, Ishan Kishan is also another viable option who can start but the Kishan is currently fighting for his place in the team for the wicketkeeper’s spot against KS Bharat.

India Playing XI 3rd Test: India DROP out-of-form KL Rahul for Shubman Gill, Mohammad Shami RESTED for Umesh Yadav, Follow IND vs AUS LIVE Updates

IND AUS Indore Pitch Report: No respite from SPIN, Holkar Stadium lays out red-soil pitch with turn & bounce for 3rd Test, Follow IND vs AUS LIVE Updates

Axar Patel is to be Retained

The Indian team is ready to retain Axar Patel in their midst after sacrificing a pace option. The Holkar Pitch at Indore stadium laid out a red-soil pitch that will offer bounce in the pitch. Previously both sides have played in spin-dominated tracks where 2 pacers from each team spearheaded the pace attack.

However, with the pitch offering a certain pace and bounce, India might be tempted to go with three pacers. But Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma will opt to go with 2 pacers and thereby grant a chance to Axar Patel to weave his magic against the Aussies.

India Playing XI 3rd Test: India DROP out-of-form KL Rahul for Shubman Gill, Mohammad Shami RESTED for Umesh Yadav, Follow IND vs AUS LIVE Updates

India Predicted Playing XI

1. Rohit Sharma
2. Shubman Gill
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Virat Kohli
5. Shreyas Iyer
6 .KS Bharat(WK)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Axar Patel
10. Umesh Yadav
11. Mohammed Siraj

India’s Test squad for third and fourth Test against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), K L Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.