Axar, Raina in selection radar ahead of 4th Test vs Australia

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's sudden retirement from Test cricket has left the Indian thinktank fretting over the ideal playing combination that will take on Australia in the fourth and final Test at the SCG starting next Tuesday.

While Wriddhiman Saha's selection by virtue of being the back-up keeper is a certainty, the team management might be mulling on a couple of changes in their line-up with a final shot at redemption during the first assignment of 2015.

The Sydney Cricket Ground has proved to be helpful for the slow bowlers with the track offering some turn by the end of the third day. Spinners come in handy during the third and the fourth innings of the Test matches in Sydney.
This might just bring in rookie left-arm spinner Axar Patel into the equation if India plan to go with two specialist spinners instead of the lone spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin.

Patel was flown in as a replacement for an injured Ravindra Jadeja currently undergoing rehabilitation for his left-shoulder injury.

India's Test captain Virat Kohli has had a good look at the 20-year-old Gujarat spinner as he had played most of his 9 ODIs under Kohli's captaincy.

Less than three weeks short of his 21st birthday, Axar, who has 38 wickets from 11 domestic first-class games, will be looking to be accurate in order to stem the flow of runs and will also be aiming at getting a few wickets to bolster his chances for the World Cup.