After Team India’s failure in the second test match at Perth, Team India revised its Test Squad for the third test at Melbourne Cricket Ground and for the final fourth test at Sydney Cricket Ground.
Team India’s very young player Prithvi Shaw is ruled out of Tests against Australia. The 19-year-old failed to recover completely from his ankle injury which he suffered during the one-off warm-up match in Sydney.
The team management expected him to be fit in time for the Boxing Day Test match but he was unable to recover and the BCCI has sent Shaw back home and he is replaced by Mayank Agarwal.
Mayank Agarwal plays first-class cricket for Karnataka. He is the part of the Indian Test squad for the second time after being part of home series against West Indies. He will be a strong player for one of the opening slots due to the bad form of Murali Vijay and KL Rahul.
Mayank Agarwal said, “I’m really happy with my selection. A good series is going on and to represent India is always a delight. Honestly, I was playing Ranji Trophy and my focus was completely on that, I take things as they come. When I was playing here for Karnataka, my main aim was to win for my state. When I will fly to Australia to represent India, my main goal will be to do well for the country,”.
He said, “Discipline will be important once you travel to Australia. Go there and be fearless and be calculative. Four to five days is enough time to prepare, we have been playing a lot of cricket and are in the middle of the series. We have played a lot of games in the off-season and have been playing lot of India A games as well.”
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya who suffered from a lower back injury during Asia Cup 2018 has been recovered and proved his fitness in the first-class game against Mumbai. The BCCI confirmed that Pandya will join the squad as an additional member for the final two Tests of the series.
Moreover, Rohit Sharma may leave for India as his wife Ritika is expecting their first child this week. Rohit Sharma did not play at Perth test because jarring his lower back during Adelaide Test for which he is undergoing treatment.
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