Perth [Australia], November 19 (ANI): The first Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy series between India and Australia at Perth’s Optus Stadium is shaping to be one of the most eagerly-awaited matches not only because of competitive spirit of the two teams and past series outcomes but also because of circumstances.
Australia, holders of ICC World Test Championship 2023, will seek to regain glory against India on home soil with Pat Cummins having proved himself as an efficient captain.
India, who recently suffered their first home Test series loss in 12 years by New Zealand and that too a 0-3 whitewash, have a lot to prove in the seires with their chances of making to the WTC final also on the line.
Here is what their playing eleven could look like:
-The top three
A full strength India side would have had skipper Rohit Sharma opening with explosive Yashasvi Jaiswal, followed by an in-form, assured batter Shubman Gill at three. But currently, Sharma is away from Australia after becoming a father to his second child and Gill has sustained a thumb injury that will most likely rule him out from first Test.
Filling up the vacant opening spot most likely would not be a problem, with an experienced KL Rahul around, who has batted at the spot for majority of his career. After a hit in the elbow during training on Friday, he was back in the nets on Sunday, focusing on making his defence solid.
At number three could be Devdutt Paddikal, who was asked by India to stay back, as per ESPNCricinfo, after registering scores of 36, 88, 26 and 1 in India A’s matches against Australia A and getting some starts. He also has a Test fifty in his only match in whites for India. His height and reach could pose a problem to bowlers with good-length deliveries becoming worth driving in batting-friendly conditions.
In the nets, he was fine against spin, ending his session with a rasping cut show, but against pacers, he was mostly silent and nicked a bit.
India seems to have another top-order batter in their squad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has 99 matches worth of first-class experience behind him. But poor outings in India A matches make it unlikely he would play the first Test, as he looked uncomfortable against pace and bounce in Aussie conditions.
-Jurel is a favourite to play
Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant look locked in for number four and five, with one more spot left to fill. Jurel, after tough, under pressure knocks of 68 and 80 on seaming conditions in the second India A-Australia A match, looks favourite to feature in Perth. Jurel also did well in practice sessions, playing some fine shots. Jurel is already three Tests old and after some fluent knocks against England in his debut Test series at home, he could very well feature in Australia.
-Bowling all-rounders
Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel spent time with Nitish Kumar Reddy, a pace bowling all-rounder. During the nets session, Nitish tried to hold a line outside off stump and pin the batter to the crease.
India seems to be looking at Nitish as their number eight, giving them a suitable pace bowling option along with batting depth, which Shardul Thakur also provided in recent overseas assignments. Him bowling six-ten overs per day with a great economy could help in easing bowler’s workloads.
The spin bowling all-round spot seems to be in favour of Ravichandran Ashwin, due to his strong performances against left-handers and three Aussie premier batters: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Usman Khawaja being lefties. Ravindra Jadeja did not bowl in the nets at the Optus Stadium but did bat for quite some time.
-Jasprit Bumrah’s partner
The race to be Bumrah’s bowling partner is on among Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Harshit Rana. The momentum seems to be on Rana’s side, who spent a lot of time bowling into the wicket at nets, during which he impressed. He did not bowl much during nets on Tuesday.
It is unclear who makes way for him since Siraj was one of India’s top performers on last Australian tour. Akash Deep also had a long session against Indian main batters at Perth. Same with Prasidh Krishna, who also had a nets session and got some wisdom from star batter Virat Kohli on how difficult it might be for a batter to cope with back-of-a-length balls – not outright short ones – when they happen to kick up off the pitch.
The Optus Stadium has the same clay as the WACA ground, which is going to offer pace and bounce, though it would need to bake in the sun’s heat. Heat was not in plenty on Tuesday, with rain forcing the Australian practice session to be cancelled. India will have to look past the inexperience of some players and use a playing eleven as per conditions.
After the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10.
Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.
The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series’ penultimate stage.
The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.
India’s squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc. (ANI)
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