Sydney: They could draft in Wriddhiman Saha as regular wicketkeeper and play Rishabh Pant as the specialist batsman.
India could also draft in either Mayank Agarwal or Prithvi Shaw as a specialist batsman.
There are also concerns over R Ashwin’s fitness as he woke up with a back tweak on Monday and then suffered a hit on his ribs by a short delivery from speedster Pat Cummins.
Ashwin, Vihari and Jadeja’s injuries follow injuries to Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav who have returned home after the first two Tests and are recuperating at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Ishant Sharma, another first-choice pacer like Shami and Umesh, did not travel with the Indian team to Australia due to injury.
Batsman KL Rahul returned to India with a wrist injury after the second Test. India are already missing skipper Virat Kohli who returned home to attend the birth of his child, born on Monday.
All these absentees makes the Indian line-up uncertain and shaky. Thankfully for India, the top-order looks established. While there is no doubt that Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma would continue to open the innings after they put on 70 and 71 for the first wicket in the third Test. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will play at No. 3 and No. 4.
