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Senior Karnataka batter Mayank Agarwal believes that Devdutt Padikkal will need to rise to the occasion and tackle the challenges ahead if given the chance to play in the first Test against Australia which is scheduled to start from November 22, Friday.
Padikkal, initially excluded from India’s 18-member squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was retained after the conclusion of the A team’s unofficial Tests in Australia. This decision followed an injury to Shubman Gill, who sustained a blow to his left hand ahead of the series opener.
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Gill will most likely to miss the first Test, Padikkal is likely to feature in the playing XI, marking his second appearance in the format after debuting against England in March.
“They (Indian players) have had time to prepare. The good thing was (that) a lot of the guys went and played India A games,” Agarawal, who was in a similar situation on the 2018-19 tour when he was called up for the second Test at Melbourne, told PTI on Thursday.
“They have had at least three weeks to prepare themselves for the conditions. But it then now boils down to the mindset — are you willing to get into the fight?
“Or are you willing to embrace that fight? If he can get into that mindset — which he has; he has got a lot of skill, a lot of flair (and he) works hard on his game."
Apart from Gill, Rohit Sharma will also miss the first Test match against Australia. In his absence, Jasprit Bumrah will lead the side in Perth. After facing a humiliating 3-0 loss against New Zealand, the upcoming five-Test match series against Australia is important for India to seal their berth for the World Test Championship (WTC) final which will take place in England next year.
Squads
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Abhimanyu Easwaran
Australia Squad: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland
