- By Vishal Pushkar
- Thu, 02 Jan 2025 08:33 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs AUS 5th Test: Pacer Akash Deep has been ruled out of the fifth and the final test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There were already reports floating around Akash Deep's dodgy fitness, however, with Gambhir's confirmation, India will bring in either Harshit Rana or Prasidh Krishna for final test.
Akash has taken five wickets from two Tests in Brisbane and Melbourne so far. He has been a bit unlucky to not get more as multiple catches were dropped off his bowling during the two games.
"Akash Deep is out with back issue," India coach Gautam Gambhir said in the pre-match press conference here.
Gambhir said the playing XI would be decided after taking a look at the pitch.
The 28-year-old right-arm pacer has bowled a total of 87.5 overs across two Test matches and his niggle could be a result of the heavier than usual workload he has endured.
The hard Australian grounds can cause knee, ankle and back issues for pacers.
India trail 1-2 in the five-match series and need to win the fifth and final game to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
On the other hand, Australia have already announced their playing XI with debutant Beau Webster replacing out-of-form Mitchell Marsh for the SCG test:
"Really excited for Beau; the first thing he [Marsh] said was 'I can't wait to see Beau go out there and give it a crack'," Cummins said. "Particularly here in Australia, I think when a batter misses out or gets dropped, it's always seen as a big thing. But the way that [Australia coach Andrew McDonald], and the selectors and myself look at is we love pulling a squad of players together who we can call on at different times."
Australia XI for the fifth Test: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland