The Indian team has not had a stable XI in the last year, both for the management of the workload and for the injuries to the players that have affected the balance of the team.
Friday’s free practice session may not be a definitive indicator of who will be the final eleven as most of the senior players have decided to rest during the day.
But skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya are certainties and Dinesh Karthik in current form is ahead of Rishabh Pant.
Karthik, after his batting session, held the drills for a considerable period of time.
But to be fair with Pant, it’s the only left-handed batting option in the top six and if both Karthik and Pant are settled in the XI game, Rohit will be forced to play Pandya as the fifth bowling option, which could backfire. against on occasions.
Likewise, Axar is the most consistent spinner in sight, but Pakistan’s First Order has lefties Fakhar Zaman, Mohammed Nawaz, and Khushdil Shah and playing a left arm spinner against them may not be a good option.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s experience cannot be overlooked due to the variations he brings to the table.
Yuzvendra Chahal, at the moment, appears to be the spinner of choice and on larger Australian terrains with huge side limits, wrist spinners are a must.
The troika’s pace appears to have stabilized with Mohammed Shami hitting the straps alongside Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as Harshal Patel in current form cannot be selected.
