With just few days to go for the the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the third-pacer debate is heating up. Now, former Australia skipper Ian Chappell revealed that he knows who will be India’s third pacer for the Test series. He said that he was having drinks with India head coach Ravi Shastri and that is where he got the news. “I was having a drink with Ravi (Shastri) the other day and he told me that probably (Umesh) Yadav will get the nod as the third pacer,” Chappell told PTI during a virtual interactive session “Cricket Conversations”, anchored by senior cricket journalist Ashis Ray. In fact, he feels that it’s good that India is starting with a Day/Night game in Adelaide where there will be some seam movement.
“India have two smart quicks in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. If you ask me, if the team batting first scores 300, you are on your way to winning the Test match at the Adelaide.” Chappell has been a keen observer of the bilateral series Down Under while Shastri has been with the Indian team since the day they reached Australia. India have a plethora of pacers to choose from in the Test series. While Bumrah and Shami form the core, Umesh has competition from the likes of Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj for the third pacer's spot. As it seems, it's Umesh who will get the nod in the series opener which will be a day-night Test starting December 17. Chappell also opined on the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane who is set to take over the role from Virat Kohli when the latter departs for India after the completion of the first Test. “Well, I saw him captain in one Test against Australia (in Dharamsala in March, 2017) and found his captaincy to be fabulous. He was really an aggressive captain,” he stated. Ishant Sharma was likely to take up the third pacer's role in the Indian team but his absence from the tour due to an injury sustained in the Indian Premier League.
