Gabba has witnessed the creation of history when team India defeated the Aussies in Gabba in the 2021 Border Gavaskar Trophy edition and became the only team to thrash Aussies at Gabba in 32 years. But after a despicable defeat in Adelaide in the Pink Ball Test, some self doubts might be creeping in for the Indian dugout. The much anticipated two changes in the playing XI i.e Ravindra Jadeja in place of Ravichandran Ashwin and Akashdeep in place of Harshit Rana can turn out to be a double edged sword.
Jadeja IN, Ashwin OUT
Ashwin was seen during the second test in Adelaide which raised questions on the team selection as Washington Sundar who was part of the first test in Perth was not seen making any huge omissions still Ashwin got a chance for the second test. A similar situation arose when Ashwin is replaced with Jadeja when Jadeja should be the first preference for the spin in the series who can deliver you wickets who can save runs through his safe pair of hands and also contribute with the bat as well. If based on some nostalgic intuitions, maybe Washington Sunder could also come in handy. In 2021, Washington Sundar scored 84 runs in two innings of the Gabba test andtook four wickets combined. On the other hand, Harshit Rana has been rested for this match. Rana debuted in Test cricket with this BGT edition and was impressive in the Perth test but could create an impact with the Pink ball in Adelaide. Akashdeep has impressive bowling stats in test format and can disrupt the left handers like Usman Khawaja, Alex Carrey and Travis Head coming round the wicket.
The series is tied at 1-1 but this Gabba Test is not only crucial for the BGT series but also for the Indian batting lineup for the test format. If India faces defeat in Brisbane if could raise eyebrows over the team management and on some huge names of Indian cricket like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
