Australia vs India: Ravindra Jadeja set for return in Boxing Day Test

Ravindra Jadeja is all set to make his comeback in the Boxing Day Test against Australia, starting December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Jadeja missed the last two T20Is and the opening Day-Night Test at the Adelaide Oval that the visiting team lost by eight wickets. Jadeja’s inclusion is expected to strengthen India’s batting, which looked fragile during the pink-ball Test.

Jadeja, who cleared the fitness test on Thursday, December 24, will be replacing Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, who has taken paternity leave to be with his wife Anushka Sharma, who’s due to give birth in the month of January. He was returning to the desired fitness right from the start of the Adelaide Test and had gone from sprinting to bowling a few overs and also batting.

Ravindra Jadeja at his very best

On Thursday, he managed to impress two of the physical conditioning coaches and hence was given the green signal. In the training session, he batted quite a bit after which he rolled his arms over for quite a while. The left-hander looked at his best, sprinting up and down the pitch with no palpable signs of discomfort. He was highly delighted after the short, yet rigorous training session.

The second Test is set to witness a debutant between Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini with the Hyderabad fast bowler likely to get the nod. Siraj or Saini will be debuting after replacing Mohammed Shami, who has returned home after fracturing his arm during the first Test. As per Cricbuzz, Rishabh Pant is set to don the wicketkeeper’s gloves in place of Wriddhiman Saha.

In the Day-Night warm-up game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Pant scored a ton and looked at sheer ease. Back in the 2018-19 Border Gavaskar Trophy, Pant was also the second-highest run-scorer, showing his credentials to play in Australian conditions.

For the second Test, India are also set to hand Shubman Gill his maiden Test cap. Prithvi Shaw had a torrid time during the opening Test, getting bowled, first by Mitchell Starc and then by Pat Cummins.

Gill scored a fifty in the second warm-up game and his exclusion raised a lot of eyebrows. From being 0-1 down, India have a tough task ahead of them under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane.