Midway through the second Test in Pune, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India's 18-member squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy received maiden call-ups for the longest format of the game. After the series defeat against New Zealand, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali questioned the selectors and accused them of putting too much pressure on pace-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. Basit expected Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh to be named in the squad.
"I am surprised (mujhe hairat hai) why there is no Mohammed Shami in the squad for the Australia tour. You have put all the load on Bumrah. Arshdeep (Singh) could have been in the squad because he brings variety. In this team, India's fast bowling is not complete without Shami. Without Shami, India might face problems in Australia. In Australia, your weapon is fast bowling. India will have problems in Australia," Basit said on his YouTube channel.
Shami missed the flight to Australia as he is yet to regain full fitness. He was seen bowling in the nets in Bengaluru to Shubman Gill and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. He is ready to make a comeback via Ranji Trophy as well. He may look to play in Bengal's upcoming matches against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
On the other hand, Arshdeep is yet to get the nod for Test cricket. He is named in the T20I squad for four-T20I series against South Africa starting November 7.
Arshdeep’s red-ball numbers
While Arshdeep who is keen to play Test cricket wasn’t named in the squad, Prasidh Krishna made a comeback. In the reserves, the selectors have named three pacers -- Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini and Khaleel Ahmed. So far, has played 20 first-class games and managed to take 64 wickets. In Duleep Trophy 2024, he bagged 13 wickets for India D from three games including a six-wicket haul against India B.
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
