Shastri wants India to aim for a positive start in Australia
Shastri believes India must target a fast start to the series in Perth to keep their World Test Championship hopes alive.
Prithvi Shaw, the 2018 Under-19 World Cup winning skipper, on Wednesday broke into the India Test side even as the BCCI senior selection committee dropped off-colour opener Murali Vijay and Kuldeep Yadav from the squad for the remaining two Tests of the five-match rubber against England.
The 18-year-old Shaw, who captained the India colts to the World Cup title in February, has since been part of India’s A teams, besides being picked by the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Besides Shaw, Andhra Pradesh skipper Hanuma Vihari was also picked in the squad that will face England in the fourth and fifth Tests at Southampton and London respectively.
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Both Shaw and Vihari are in great batting form, having each belted centuries against South Africa A earlier this month. They also impressed with the bat during their recent trip to England.
Meanwhile, the axe on Vijay came on expected lines after he was dropped from the Trent Bridge Test that India won by a handsome 203 runs on Wednesday and managed to stay alive in the five-Test series.
The 34-year-old Vijay, who played the opening two Tests at Edgbaston and London, could manage just 26 runs.
On the other hand, Kuldeep’s selection under overcast conditions at Lord’s had already raised a few eyebrows and the chinaman has now been sent back home to play for the India A team.
Head coach Ravi Shastri said at the end of the third Test that he hoped premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to recover from his hip injury by the time the fourth Test starts on August 30. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja is already waiting for his turn.
India squad for fourth and fifth Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hanuma Vihari.
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