India vs Australia | Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Shami added to final Test squad
BCCI
Mohammed Shami and Shreyas Iyer have been selected in the fourth and final Test squad against Australia, starting tomorrow at Dharamsala, the BCCI announced today. With Kohli being a big doubt for the match due to his shoulder injury, the duo look likely to start in the all-important match tomorrow.
Addressing the pre-match press conference today, Kohli said, "If I get through the fitness test, then I'll play. (We) probably will take a call later tonight or tomorrow."
A few hours after Kohli's presser, the Board of Control for Cricket in India released a Tweet saying, "NEWS ALERT - Mohammed Shami & Shreyas Iyer included in the Indian team for Dharamsala Test against Australia.”
NEWS ALERT - Mohammed Shami & Shreyas Iyer included in the Indian team for Dharamsala Test against Australia #TeamIndia #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/U5BJbyo1S3
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 24, 2017
Going by the two statements and timings of the release, it appears to be an indication that Virat Kohli's shoulder injury has aggrieved and he is possibly making way for Iyer for the match. India will, however, wait for the morning to see if their captain is available to lead them to battle before making an announcement.
So, where do India stand in the absence of their captain? Currently, it appears that Shreyas Iyer will make his international debut and the home side will go in with six specialist batsmen.
Although the curator had promised a fast and bouncy surface, but as per SportsCafe’s sources, a fair share of grass has been cut down and now appears to be a spin-friendly wicket, but not like the ones witnessed in Pune or Bengaluru. And as Steven Smith’s asserted today the wicket is dry underneath and it could be the indicators that spin will play a vital role in the game.
But that just extends the confusion of including Mohammed Shami in the squad considering the fact that Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have been doing a terrific job for the Indians. Shami hasn’t played for the country since the third Test against England at Mohali, in November last year, when he picked up a knee injury.
With the pitch at Dharamsala expected to help the pacers as well as the spinners, the Indian team might be contemplating playing three pacers- Yadav, Sharma, and Shami. To do that, however, India would need to sacrifice a batsman with Karun Nair looking like the most likely of the bunch and that, again, depends on whether Kohli plays or not.
As of now, Indian fans can just hope that Kohli’s injury is not as bad as it seems and the Indian captain should be the one to lead the team out tomorrow. If not, Iyer should live up to the lofty reputation he has created in the domestic arena.
