Australia vs India 2018/19: Ravindra Jadeja Declared Fit For Third Test

High-flying India were given a reality check in Perth when a spirited Australia beat them by 146 runs to square the four-match Border-Gavaskar series. With the hosts missing Steve Smith and David Warner, not many had given them a realistic chance of challenging the world number one Test side let alone winning a game. However, Tim Paine & Co. proved their detractors wrong with a clinical effort in Perth.

Almost everything went according to the plan for the hosts as they proved they will be more than handful for India in their backyard. Chasing a challenging 287, India never looked in contention and were all out for just 140.

What has further compounded India’s miseries are some injuries. They missed the services of their spin spearhead R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma for the second Test. Both the players missed the game with injuries. And India did pay the price for Ashwin’s absence as Nathan Lyon’s 8-wicket haul showed the India off-spinner could have made a mark on that pitch. Later, Prithvi Shaw was ruled out of the series due to the ankle injury he had sustained in the tour game.

And at a time when things are falling apart for the visitors, they have received some much-needed boost for the upcoming third Test.  Their left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has been declared fit to play in the Boxing Day Test.

According to reports in Cricket Next, Jadeja can feature in the third Test and might well be included in the playing XI if Ashwin does not recover in time. Well, Jadeja will be keen to make a mark if he gets the chance in Melbourne. The left-arm has spent most of his time this year on bench as India has played with a sole spinner in overseas Tests.  Jadeja only featured in the fifth Test against England and impressed with both bat and ball. In India’s last Test assignment which was against Windies at home, he scored his first Test ton.