Australia vs India: MSK Prasad justifies Parthiv Patel's inclusion in the Test squad

The Indian selectors, late on Friday, announced the squads for the upcoming Australia tour. While the T20Is will be played first, all the eyes will be on the much-awaited Test series as it will be India’s best chance to win the series down under. However, there are a few changes in the team which travelled England and faced Windies. Parthiv Patel has been included in the squad as the backup wicketkeeper along with Rishabh Pant and MSK Prasad has justified the 33-year-old’s pick in the side.

The four-match Test series will be crucial for India having lost the preceding overseas tours. They lost by 1-2 in South Africa and went down 1-4 in England despite playing much better cricket than their previous visits to the country. With Steve Smith and David Warner banned, Virat Kohli and Co have a great opportunity to beat the Aussies in their own den and register their first ever Test series victory.

The advantage of picking Parthiv

MSK Prasad, while speaking to the media during the squad announcement, spilt the reason of picking Parthiv Patel in the squad once again. He pointed out that the left-hander can bat anywhere in the line-up and also recalled the way he had responded to the calamity and opened the innings in South Africa with the injured hand.

“The advantage of Parthiv is he can bat and he is a left-hander and he can bat at any order. When the team demanded even with the fractured hand he opened the innings in South Africa. So considering all these factors we have picked him,” MSK Prasad, the chief selector, said.

The likes of Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay have also returned to the mix in the longest format. The former has a good record in Australia which might have gone in his favour while Vijay amassed runs in County cricket after being axed midway through England series and has fought his way back.

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