Navdeep Saini to make Test debut in Sydney

Sydney: Pacer Navdeep Saini will make his debut in the third Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.

Saini and opener Rohit Sharma have come into the side in place of injured fast bowler Umesh Yadav and out-of-form opener Mayank Agarwal from the eleven which won the second Test in Melbourne.

Rohit will open the inning along with Shubman Gill.

Saini, 28, has so far played seven ODIs and 10 T20Is for India.

"We all are really excited to have him (Rohit) back in the team, especially his experience at the highest level which matters a lot. Talking about his batting, he is batting really well in the nets. He had good 7-8 sessions, came to Melbourne, started practice straightaway when our Test match got over," said stand-in India skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

"I think he is batting really well. The last couple of series he has been batting as an opener, so you will definitely see him batting at the top," he added.

Rohit missed the first two Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he was serving his quarantine period in Sydney. He had arrived late in Australia because of a hamstring injury he sustained in the Indian Premier League.

The four-match series is tied 1-1.

India playing eleven: Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), Shubman Gilll, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Hanuma Vihari, Rishbah Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini.

(With inputs from IANS)