BGT 2024-25: 8 Indian players who will warm the bench in Adelaide Day/Night test

Rohit Sharma is set to return to India’s XI in the upcoming Day/Night test in Adelaide.

The Indian cricket team registered a memorable victory in the first test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 in Perth by a whopping 295 runs. That was despite being bowled out for only 150 runs in their first innings.

Jasprit Bumrah produced a sensational bowling performance, claiming eight wickets in the match for 72 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal slammed his first test century in Australia and Virat Kohli his seventh.

The action now moves to the second game of the series, which is a Day/Night test match in Adelaide from December 6. This will be India’s second Day/Night test in Adelaide. In their previous fixture at this venue, in 2020, they succumbed to their lowest test score of 36 and lost the match, although they bounced back unbelievably to win the series.

India will be boosted as captain Rohit Sharma is set to return while Shubman Gill is also likely to make a comeback as he is recovering well from his thumb injury.

India currently have a 19-man squad and these eight players are likely to be left out from the Adelaide test.

8 Indian players who are likely to be benched in the Day/Night test in Adelaide:

Devdutt Padikkal

Padikkal recorded scores of 0 and 25 while batting at No. 3 in Perth in Shubman Gill’s absence. With KL Rahul doing well, and Rohit Sharma set to return, Padikkal is all but certain to face the axe, regardless of whether Gill returns or not.

Dhruv Jurel

If Gill returns, then Jurel is likely to be dropped as well. One of Rohit, Rahul, or Gill will be taking Jurel’s place in the XI while the other will replace Padikkal.

In Perth, Jurel managed scores of 11 and 1.

Abhimanyu Easwaran

Abhimanyu Easwaran is the back-up opener in the squad but wasn’t trusted to open in Perth in Rohit’s absence after his poor performances against Australia A.

He is set to warm the bench in Adelaide and beyond as well.

Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz Khan played in the three-test series against New Zealand. While he hit a score of 150 in Bengaluru, in the next two tests, he managed only 21 runs in four innings.

Barring any late injury to any of the batsmen, Sarfaraz is set to be carrying drinks in Adelaide, and further in the series as well since he is infamous to struggle against high pace and extra bounce.

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin

India made a huge call by dropping both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin from the Perth test and going with young and inexperienced Washington Sundar.

The team management’s call was explicable: India wanted an off-spinner instead of a left-arm spinner to turn the ball away from Australia’s left-handers – they have five left-handers in their top 8 – so Jadeja was ditched, and Sundar has proven to be in a better batsman than Ashwin, technically and temperamentally, hence the senior off-spinner was left out too.

Sundar took a couple of late wickets in Perth, when the match was already wrapped up. In India’s second innings, he once again showed his quality with the bat, scoring 29 runs and importantly hung around for 94 balls, giving terrific support to Virat Kohli.

Sundar is expected to feature in Adelaide, while the two veteran spinning all-rounders are expected to be benched.

Akash Deep

Akash Deep was impressive in his five tests at home, picking up seven wickets, and even got the nod over Mohammed Siraj in the Kanpur test against New Zealand. But Siraj was back to his best in pace-friendly conditions in Perth, picking up five wickets in the game for 71 runs.

Further, with Nitish Kumar Reddy doing well in the pace-bowling all-rounder’s role, India don’t need Akash Deep in the XI as of now.

Prasidh Krishna

Many touted Prasidh Krishna to be the fourth pacer in the XI in Perth due to his height, given the venue’s nature of offering extra bounce. However, India picked Reddy as their fourth seamer and went with Harshit Rana as the third pacer.

Rana was impressive with the ball. He snared four wickets in the match, including dismissing Travis Head with the ball of the match.

India are unlikely to need a fourth specialist pacer in the day/night test in Adelaide, where they would need Rana’s pace and swing instead of Krishna’s height and extra bounce.

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