India vs. Australia: First Test Preview

India and Australia’s highly-anticipated, four-Test battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy kicks off Thursday afternoon (3:00pm AEDT) at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur as Australia looks to retain the trophy for the first time in eight years.

The last time these two sides faced off in Test matches was over the 2020-21 summer in Australia when an undermanned Indian squad pulled off a famous 2-1 series win.

Australia have not won a Test series in India since 2005.

Australia is currently the number-one ranked Test side in the world and sit atop the World Test Championship standings whilst India are second in both.

The world’s best two Test sides meeting in a four-match series is a cricket tragic’s dream and the players will be eager to put on a show.

The Australians are just over a month removed from a convincing 2-0 series win over South Africa at home which saw David Warner named Player of the Series.

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India, meanwhile, most recently swept their two-Test series in Bangladesh in December last year.

Australia will be forced to stray from their first-choice XI for the opening Test of the series and perhaps beyond with injuries and pitch conditions forcing their hand.

Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood are all expected to miss the first Test through injury.

Green suffered a fractured finger in Australia’s Boxing Day win over the South Africans and is progressing towards a return but is expected to be overlooked for Nagpur.

Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb are the two names contending to replace the 23-year-old allrounder.

Renshaw was brought into the side for the first time in almost five years as Green’s replacement in Sydney but was barely given a chance to make an impression due to wet weather.

Renshaw has played four Tests in India scoring 232 runs at 29.00 with a best of 68.

Handscomb, meanwhile, was the leading Sheffield Shield run-scorer this past season smashing 571 runs for Victoria at 81.57 with a best of 281.

The 31-year-old has also played four Tests in India scoring 198 runs at 28.28 with a best of 72*.

Starc, who also suffered a finger injury in the Boxing Day Test, is expected to be replaced by one of the specialist spinners Australia have added to their squad.

Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson, and Todd Murphy are the men vying accompany Nathan Lyon in the attack.

Agar was brought into the side in Sydney and finished the match with combined figures of 0-for-58 off 22 overs.

The 29-year-old has never played in India.

Swepson earnt a Test debut last year in Pakistan before touring Sri Lanka several months after and took 10 wickets at 45.80 in his four games on the subcontinent.

Uncapped 22-year-old Murphy, meanwhile, bolted into the selection frame following strong Sheffield Shield outings for Victoria – where he took 14 wickets at 17.71 – as well as Australia A and the Prime Minister’s XI.

Hazlewood’s unfortunate run of injuries, meanwhile, has continued with the star quick ruled out with an achilles issue.

Scott Boland is expected to come into the side for his first Test match away from Australia.

India, on the other hand, have not included stars Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant in their squad due to injury whilst Shreyas Iyer will miss the first Test.

Captain Rohit Sharma – who missed the Bangladesh tour with a thumb complaint – and vice-captain KL Rahul are expected to open the batting for India with Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli at three and four.

Injuries to Pant and Iyer have left a noticeable hole in their middle-order.

White-ball stars Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav are the names vying for the vacancy at five.

Gill has been on another level in recent ODI outings having hit four centuries from his past seven innings including a match-defining double-ton against New Zealand in Hyderabad a little over two weeks ago.

He has, however, averaged just 32.00 in his 13 Test matches which drops to 26.30 in India.

Suryakumar, on the other hand, is yet to earn a Test debut but has ascended atop the world T20 batter rankings.

He turned many a head when selected in India’s Border-Gavaskar squad; in 74 Ranji Trophy matches, he averages 45.93.

Not only does Pant’s absence leave a hole in the middle order but the Indians are down their first-choice keeper as well.

Srikar Bharat and Ishan Kishan are the two wicketkeepers who have been added to squad and will compete with one another for the role.

Bharat is seen as the superior gloveman – a skill that India may prioritise on turning decks – whilst Kishan has spent time with India’s ODI and T20 teams and is the more aggressive batter.

Ravindra Jadeja will play the all-important allrounder role for India with fellow veterans Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami headlining the attack.

Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are the two other full-time spinners that India have included in their squad.

Axar – 39 wickets at 12.43 in India – looks the favourite to be picked over Kuldeep – 16 wickets at 23.81 in India – for the Nagpur Test.

Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj will jostle for the role of Shami’s pace partner.

Umesh is far more experienced on Indian decks, however, Siraj has been more popular with the Indian selectors in recent times.

Both sides have several big selection calls to make which could make or break their chances.

India have lost just six of their past 19 Test matches whilst Australia have lost just three of their past 24.

India enter the match and series as strong favourites with bookmakers expecting them to continue their near decade-long stronghold on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Possible India XI: KL Rahul (vc), Rohit Sharma (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Possible Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (vc), Travis Head, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland