Rohit Sharma & Siraj out, Harshit Rana, Krishna & Gill in: How India’s XI for IND vs AUS 5th Test should look like

India should make some radical changes for IND vs AUS 5th Test in Sydney and drop Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Siraj from the playing XI

India cricket team should make some radical changes to their playing XI for the must-win IND vs AUS 5th Test in Sydney. After an 184-run thrashing at the hands of Australia in Perth, the Men in Blue are in dire need of making some bold calls, which includes dropping the captain and their frontline bowlers. With India’s qualification to the World Test Championship (WTC) final hinging on the final Test, it will be wise for India to make a few changes to their playing XI which will only strengthen their line-up.

KL Rahul
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Shubman Gill
Virat Kohli
Rishabh Pant
Ravindra Jadeja
Nitish Kumar Reddy
Washington Sundar / Tanush Kotian / Akash Deep
Harshit Rana
Jasprit Bumrah
Prasidh Krishna

Drop Rohit Sharma

It is high time that the Indian team go the Pakistan route and drop an out of form Rohit Sharma from the playing XI. Despite consistent failures, the Indian captain has been a part of the playing XI and has in fact been eating up a spot that other players do deserve. In five innings, Sharma has only managed to score 31 runs in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with his miserable form continuing from the series against New Zealand at home. His attempt to bat in the middle-order flopped while his return as opener also provided similar results. India are left with no other option but to drop Rohit and hand over the captaincy to Jasprit Bumrah.

Match	Bat
IND vs AUS 4th Test	3 & 9
IND vs AUS 3rd Test	10
IND vs AUS 2nd Test	3 & 6

Rohit Sharma stats in last three Tests

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KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal to open

India should resort to allowing KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the innings in Sydney. Both batters have arguably been the best among the rest of the unit and seem to have struck a chord as partners at the top, until Rohit decided to intervene. Despite the Indian skipper reverting to his role as opener, it didn’t look like there was any change made at all, as Sharma managed to last for very few deliveries in both innings. The duo of Rahul-Jaiswal hold the key to India’s success in Sydney and the team management should dare not tamper with it.

Bye bye Siraj, Akash Deep

While it is an understatement to say that Jasprit Bumrah has been the only standout bowler for India in the series, he hasn’t received any support from Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep whatsoever. The premium pacer has single handedly shouldered the responsibility of the bowling line-up while the other two have tasted very little success. Both Siraj and Akash were taken for a joy ride by the Australian batters in Brisbane and Melbourne, while Bumrah fought a lone-warrior battle in his attempt to rescue India.

Player	Matches	Wickets
Mohammed Siraj	4	16
Akash Deep	2	5

Siraj, Akash Deep stats in IND vs AUS Test series

Instead of fielding these two pacers, India should opt to play Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna in the playing 11 for IND vs AUS 5th Test. Rana tasted success in Perth and showed his ability to bowl at good speed and with variety. Meanwhile, 6 foot 2 inch tall Prasidh Krishna has been warming the bench so far, with India wasting four opportunities instead of capitalizing on his height to provide the bounce advantage that they desperately need.

Should the Sydney pitch act like Melbourne and favour pacers more than the spinners going against tradition, then it would be wise for India to leave out Siraj and keep Akash Deep in the line-up. Else both should be dropped.

Spin is the way ahead for Sydney

India should retain Ravindra Jadeja as their frontline spinner – purely based on his experience and the wicket-taking ability that he has displayed in the 4th Test. The other option for spin will come down to a choice between Washington Sundar and uncapped Tanush Kotian. The former bowled very little and in turn tasted very little success with the ball in Melbourne. The latter has been included in the squad after some impressive performances in domestic tourneys. It will be imperative for India to go with at least two spinners at the SCG which is known to favour the spinners more than the pacers. However, like skipper Rohit Sharma said after the 4th Test, the playing XI can only be decided once the team gets a view of the surface in Sydney.