The Indian cricket team has made the call to drop KL Rahul for the third Test against Australia, beginning in Indore on Wednesday, March 1. This comes after KL Rahul’s lack of form during the past few matches. Despite the management’s backing of KL Rahul, they had to recognize the impressive results Shubman Gill achieved in both white-ball cricket and the first two matches against Australia, thus rendering him deserving of a spot in the starting lineup. On social media, fans have expressed relief that KL Rahul missed the cut, citing Venkatesh Prasad’s tweets as possibly influencing the decision. Nevertheless, they remain hopeful that Gill can make the most of this opportunity and prove himself in the match. One of the tweets had an in-photo caption that read: “Aakhir wo din aa hi gaya (At last that day is upon us)”
Seems like India have won a crucial toss
After losing the toss in the first two Tests, Rohit Sharma was delighted that luck was on his side. Without any hesitation, he chose to bat first and look at how the pitch had played in the first 30 minutes, and it was clear that it would only get tougher for batting as the game progressed. Australia opted not to challenge the two questionable calls, gifting Rohit two lucky escapes. Unfortunately, he couldn’t take advantage of those opportunities and was dismissed for 12 runs. Shubman Gill showed promise with some elegant shots, yet he, too, fell to Matthew Kuhnemann when caught at slip for 21. Nathan Lyon then joined the party by bowling Cheteshwar Pujara with a delivery that spun sharply. At the time of writing, India had 44/3 after 10 overs with Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli at the crease. Given how the pitch turns square, India must post a substantial total to pressure Australia. The visitors may need their middle to lower-order batters to make significant contributions.
