The Asia Cup is over, and the caravan has shifted towards the life-giving island of West Indies Cricket, with Test cricket beginning from Thursday, 2 October. The first Test of this two-Test series will be held at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, as Shubman Gill prepares to taste his first-ever Test series victory.
Usually, in Indian conditions, the spinners dictate terms as the curators generally prepare rank-turners to help Indian spin-bowlers. However , if whispers are to be believed, the Ahmedabad pitch will be green and will aid the pace bowlers.
Remember, if the track transpires to help the fast bowlers instead, India would then be forced to reconsider their playing XI options.
Ahead of the first Test, Shubman Gill, the Test captain of India, arrived at the pre-game press conference and hinted at playing a third pacer, weather and pitch permitting.
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“Given the weather conditions and the pitch, we might be tempted to play a third seamer,” Gill was quoted as saying by RevSportz
The Indian side has sorted out its batting order, but selecting the bowling attack could prove to be tough for Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir.
So, who could make it as the third pacer if the team goes ahead with this plan?
Most probably, Bumrah and Siraj will be the two front-line pacers from the Indian side, and that third spot is the real question for the rubber band. Prasidh Krishna is the third pacer in the squad, and the surface permitting, they may be lured to go with a pace-heavy attack of three.”
That in itself means Kuldeep Yadav would miss the cut for the playing eleven. Gautam Gambhir likes to go by all-rounders in his playing eleven, so the Indian side could resort to taking a trio of spin-bowling all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar.
If Krishna is left on the sidelines, then an alternative temptation could be Nitish Kumar Reddy as the seam-bowling all-rounder.
