India has four pacers, namely, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat, in the squad for the first two Test matches against Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The pitch at Nagpur cricket stadium is going to be spin-friendly, which means that only two pacers will play for India in the first Test. Earlier, it was reported that Shami and Siraj would be India’s frontline spinners in the upcoming 1st Test.
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However, the recent developments after seeing the pitch of Nagpur has suggested that Umesh Yadav can be a better fit for the Nagpur Test match.
Umesh Yadav has extra pace compared to Mohammed Shami, which can prove to be highly useful at the Nagpur deck, which is not going to offer much movement to the pace bowlers. The raw pace of Umesh Yadav can trouble the Aussie batting line-up.
It is speculated that Umesh Yadav can play instead of Mohammed Shami in the 1st Test vs Australia.