Cricket

As Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir prepare harsh measures, Rishabh Pant will be dropped from the Indian XI, while Akash Deep will not play in the Sydney Test.

As Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir prepare harsh measures, Rishabh Pant will be dropped from the Indian XI, while Akash Deep will not play in the Sydney Test.

By Kajal Sharma - 02 Jan 2025 10:28 PM

Rishabh Pant, an experienced player, is probably going to be left out of the India XI, but Akash Deep's omission may be a forced move for the Sydney Test.In an attempt to salvage the series and keep the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, India is anticipated to make a few changes to their starting lineup when they play at the Sydney Cricket Ground later this week. A seasoned campaigner might be fired for the other, while one of those might be a forced move, according to a report.During the series against Australia, India has made some unexpected choices. In Perth, they selected Washington Sundar as their only spinner, but he was later demoted to make room for Ravichandran Ashwin, who was followed in Brisbane by Ravindra Jadeja. Harshit Rana, a fast bowler, made his debut in Perth but was benched after struggling in the Adelaide Pink Ball Test. India selected three all-rounders—Nitish Reddy, Jadeja, and Sundar—later in the Melbourne match. Shubman Gill was benched, and Rohit Sharma, who was under pressure, chose to open in place of KL Rahul, who was demoted to the No. 3 position.

According to a source in The Indian Express, captain Rohit and head coach Gautam Gambhir are currently discussing Rishabh Pant's spot in the starting lineup with the series at stake, even if WTC aspirations are all but dead. There was significant backlash at his dismissals at the MCG, including Sunil Gavaskar's widely shared "Stupid, stupid, stupid" tirade on commentary.Given his heroics in the 2020–21 series Down Under, Pant was expected to be the game-changing player during the trip of Australia, despite India's concerning batting performance in the home Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. But in the current series, the wicketkeeper-batter only scored 154 runs in seven innings at a mere 22, with no scores of fifty or more.

 

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