No place for KL Rahul as Ex-India batsman announces his playing XI for IND vs AUS 2nd Test

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer on Wednesday shared his predicted playing XI for the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Jaffer left out India's vice-captain KL Rahul from his playing XI for the second Test of the ongoing four-match series against Australia. Jaffer included India's young sensation Shubman Gill in place of Rahul as an opener for the second match. Jaffer also left out Suryakumar Yadav from his playing XI to make room for Shreyas Iyer, who has returned to the side from an injury. 

Wasim Jaffer's India XI for the 2nd Test in Delhi

1. Rohit Sharma (c)
2. Shubman Gill
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Virat Kohli
5. Shreyas Iyer
6. KS Bharat (wk)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Axar Patel
9. Ravichandran Ashwin
10. Mohammed Shami
11. Mohammed Siraj 

My India XI for Second Test:

Rohit (c)
Gill
Pujara
Kohli
Iyer
Bharat (wk)
Jadeja
Axar
Ashwin
Shami
Siraj

What's yours? #INDvAUS

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) February 15, 2023

Calls for the inclusion of Gill in place of Rahul have been doing rounds even before the start of the ongoing Test series against Australia. KL Rahul has not been in good form for the past several months. He scored just 20 runs in the first Test match in Nagpur. Gill, on the other hand, has been in great form, which he displayed in the recently-concluded series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. He scored his maiden double-hundred in an ODI game against the Kiwis. Gill is part of the Indian squad for Tests against the Aussies but he has not received a chance to feature in the playing XI. 

As far as the first Test match is concerned, India won by innings and 132 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match contest. Spinners played a crucial role in the game having picked 23 out of 30 wickets between them. The bulk of those wickets were taken by Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. Jadeja was named the player of the match for his all-round effort. The second Test match is scheduled to take place in Delhi from February 17 to 21. Shreyas Iyer has been added to the India squad after completing his rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).  

India vs Australia: Full squads

India's squad (first two Tests): Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer.

Australia's squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

Image: BCCI