AUS vs IND: Gautam Gambhir jets off to rejoin India Test squad in Australia

AUS vs IND- Gautam Gambhir jets off to rejoin India Test squad in Australia (Photo Source: BCCI)

Hosts Australia and visitors India are all set to square off once again in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25) in Adelaide. Notably, the second Test is scheduled to start on December 6, and the Head Coach of India, Gautam Gambhir, had gone back home citing personal reasons. However, in the latest development, Gambhir who remained away from the recent practice game, is expected to join back the Indian camp on Tuesday.

For the unversed, the former Indian opener and now coaching the team had flown out of Australia on November 26. Hence, during his absence, the support staff in the form of Abhishek Nayar, Morne Morkel and Ryan ten Doeschate were handling the training sessions along with preparing strategies and monitoring players in the past few days. This also included the trio managing the team during the pink-ball Test played against the Prime Minister’s XI team. Even though the game was curtailed to a 46-over game due to incessant rains, the eventual result went in favour of Team India.

The second of the BGT Test series will be a day-night pink-ball Test and there are a plethora of questions hovering around the think tank along with the regular Skipper, Rohit Sharma. For the unversed, Sharma had not travelled with the team and missed the first Test due to the birth of his child recently. In his absence, pacer Jasprit Bumrah took the Captaincy mantle and led the team to an emphatic victory over Australia by a mammoth margin of 295 runs in Perth.

Selection and batting conundrum awaiting for Gambhir ahead of second Test

Meanwhile, on the other hand, some injury concerns also plagued the team as the start batter Shubman Gill had fractured his right thumb but also showed some positive signs of recovery in the warm-up tie. Hence in the aftermath, with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal producing magnificent batting has led to a selection and slot conundrum for the team.

Also Read: How India have performed in pink-ball Tests over the years

Therefore, Gautam Gambhir is expected to have his say in the possible shuffling of the batting order and other related issues once he links up with the team. Currently, India lead the five-test match series against Australia by a 1-0 margin.