Ian Chappell is not happy with Australia's squad for the India Test series

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has expressed his dissatisfaction with the selection of the national side for the next Test series in India. Chappell argued that instead of competing for a left-right arm bowling combo, Australia should select their finest bowlers. Chief selector George Bailey indicated throughout the team selection process that Ashton Agar’s left-arm spin will be effective in Indian conditions. Bailey believes Agar’s ability to spin the ball away from right-handers gives him an advantage.

Chappell told Wide World of Sports that Australia should select wicket-taking bowlers over batsmen. He believes that there are numerous hypotheses about selection. “This bullshit about, ‘Oh, we’ve got to pick a right-arm and a left-arm spin bowler’ — it’s crap. You pick your best bowlers. This business of picking Agar because he can bat a bit — you don’t pick bowlers because they can bat a bit; you pick bowlers because they can take wickets. You don’t want to get too carried away with selections. I think there are too many theories on selection.”

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Ravi Shastri feels Surya might make his Test debut

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes Suryakumar Yadav would be given a Test debut in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy for his T20-like outings. The four-match series kicks off on Thursday, February 9 in Nagpur. With regulars Rishabh Pant (recovering from a near-fatal car accident) and Shreyas Iyer (back injury) out, the Indian think tank has been working around the clock to rejuvenate the middle order. Surya’s counter-attacking knocks, according to Shastri, would be crucial on spinning tracks.

“Suryakumar Yadav might get the opportunity in that Test match. And he’s going to play his natural game. I think he’s one player who will be proactive. Especially with Nathan Lyon or the other spinners, he will be looking to score all the time, looking to rotate the strike. If you want to do well in India, you have got to rotate the strike. You can’t have bowlers bowling maidens at you. You have got to find a way where you want to score, not think of just blocking, because that can create real problems for you.

So I think he will be very useful in that position. He might come and play a little cameo on a track that is spinning a lot, where a 30 or 40 could decide the fate of a game. And he can get it quickly and disrupt the opposition. So India will be thinking in that fashion there,” he said to a select group of journalists in a press conference organized by Star Sport.