No changes in India squad for remaining Tests, out-of-form KL Rahul retained

K.L. Rahul in action during the second Test against Australia in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: Pankaj Nangia

The Indian selection committee on February 19, 2023 retained the team for the third and fourth Tests against Australia, keeping faith in KL Rahul despite his repeated failures.

Seasoned left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who was part of the squad for the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but was released to represent Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy final against Bengal, is back in the team for the remaining two matches.

Fresh from leading Saurashtra to a Ranji Trophy title triumph, Unadkat has also made a comeback to the ODI squad for the limited overs series that will take place after the Test rubber.

Speedster Jasprit Bumrah, who has been out of action at the international level since September 2022 due to back issues, and missed the T20 World Cup, Bangladesh tour, and the home series versus Sri Lanka and New Zealand, is not part of either the Test or the ODI team and will return to play during the IPL.

Rohit will be unavailable for the first ODI due to family commitments and Hardik Pandya will lead the side in the match.

As far as the out-of-form Rahul is concerned, head coach Rahul Dravid said that the team management would like to give him a longer run.

India’s Test squad for third and fourth Test against Australia:

Rohit Sharma (captain), KL 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.

India’s ODI squad for series against Australia:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, K L Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.