Even before the series began, India were braced for the unavailability of captain and opening batter Rohit Sharma, who has now become a father for the second time. He has now been confirmed to miss the first Test in Perth, with fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah taking over captaincy duties.
However, the visitors were dealt a second blow when Shubman Gill was injured during a practice match, hurting his thumb attempting to take a slip catch. Despite initial reports saying he had fractured his thumb, the injury may not be as serious as that. It could still keep him out of the first Test though, with coach Morne Morkel saying India would "take a call on the morning of the Test (Friday)".
Devdutt Padikkal added to India Test squad one day ahead of Perth Test
On Thursday (November 21), the BCCI announced that left-hander Devdutt Padikkal had been added to the Test squad.
Devdutt Padikkal has joined the #TeamIndia squad.🙌
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 21, 2024
The left-handed batter shares his experience and excitement of training with the group ahead of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy👌👌#AUSvIND | @devdpd07 pic.twitter.com/KxFrbIPMwS
Padikkal was part of the India 'A' squad which played two first-class matches against Australia 'A' earlier this month, as a precursor to the series along with fellow Indian squad members Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abhimanyu Easwaran. Dhruv Jurel and KL Rahul were also included for the second match.
Padikkal had scores of 36, 88, 26 & 1 against Australia 'A', with the half-century coming in difficult conditions after India had slipped to 30-2. He also scored three fifties in the Duleep Trophy earlier this year. The Karnataka batter has already played Test cricket for India, making his debut against England in Dharamsala in March this year. He scored 65, batting at No.4 in his only innings.
India's squad for the Australia Tests:
Rohit Sharma (C)Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Note: Rohit Sharma is out of the first Test, while Shubman Gill remains doubtful.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
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