Preview: India take on Australia in the first of four Tests as the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets underway in Nagpur on Thursday.
This series adds of more importance to both teams with spots at the ICC World Test Championship at stake. It was announced on Wednesday by the ICC that the WTC 2021-23 final would take place from 7-11 June at The Oval in London.
Should India win by a 3-0, 3-1 or a 4-0 margin, they would all but be assured a spot in the WTC final. Any other series margin for India would mean they would have to depend on other Test series results go their way, with Sri Lanka taking on New Zealand in March in Kiwiland.
Rishabh Pant, Team India’s designated Test wicketkeeper, looks set to miss majority of 2023 after being involved in a horrific car accident in December last year, and KS Bharat will likely get the nod for the keeper’s slot, ahead of Ishan Kishan, who is also in the squad.
Another question will be that of the No 5 batting position that is left vacant by the injured Shreyas Iyer. Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav are the likely contenders for that spot, but vice-captain KL Rahul was silent on the playing XI during a press-conference on Tuesday.
“We still haven’t decided on the final XI. It’s going to be a tough decision to make. There are guys who have performed exceedingly well and there are a few spots open so there are a few discussions going on and the players are being spoken to,” Rahul had said.
Meanwhile, Australia, who have not won a Test series in India since 2004/05, have been preparing by using unique training methods, instead of opting to play practice matches.
From employing Mahesh Pithiya, who resembles R Ashwin’s bowling action, at the nets, to training on specially prepared pitches, the Aussies have found unique methods to gear up for the series.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Srikar Bharat (wk), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav.
Australia: Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Swepson, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Lance Morris
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