Wasim Jaffer was at his witty best with suggestions on Team India selection once again.© Wasim Jaffer/Twitter
Wasim Jaffer was at his witty best once again with his signature hints to stand-in India skipper Ajinkya Rahane for picking the playing XI. Jaffer has stirred quite a storm on social media with his subtle hints and coded messages for India captains to pick players of his choice, and when a user asked Jaffer for a “coded tweet” for the Brisbane Test the former cricketer replied with a blank one. The tweet with no text was a “coded” hint at India’s injury issues ahead of the fourth Test against Australia so much so that even Jaffer had run out of favourites for the match.
https://t.co/PluGDwnn8l
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) January 13, 2021
Since the Test series began in December last year, India have lost Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to injuries while Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hanuma Vihari and Jasprit Bumrah faced injuries through the third Test.
With the series tied 1-1 and all to play for in Brisbane, India may have to dig deep to pick their best XI for the Test even as the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan are in line for their first Test in the series.
India’s great escape at Sydney, where they drew the Test after batting for 131 overs in the fourth innings, was made possible in some parts by Ashwin and Vihari who batted through the final session and parts of the second to defy Australia.
With Jadeja injured after dislocating a thumb while batting in the first innings, the onus was on Vihari and Ashwin to save the Test.
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As it turned out, they batted unseparated for 42.4 overs even as Vihari suffered a hamstring injury on the final day of the Test and Ashwin had back pain.
Both players may not be definite starters for the final Test and against a full-strength Australia, the Indian team management could be at their wits’ end to pick an XI.
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