India are facing Australia for an epic series of Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023. Australian captain Pat Cummins have won the toss and opted to bat first in the significant starter game of this epic series.
“We are going to bat. Looks like a pretty even wicket towards the middle. 2017 was a big series. Can’t wait to get this started. We have had good preparation. We feel we are really well placed.”
Indian captain Rohit Sharma stated that he too hoped to bat first as the pitch looks good to bat.
“We would have batted too. Looks pretty dry. There will be help for spinners. We got to wait and see how much it does. Yesterday when we started training we did see some seam movement for the pacers up front. We have had a good prep for the last 5-6 days. We trained on the aspects in store. This is a big one. We know the importance of the series but we also understand it’s about winning one session at a time. It’s a long series. Three spinners, two seamers, Bharat and Suryakumar Yadav are debuting.”
India will play with their regular top order which includes KL Rahul, skipper Rohit, Cheteshwar Pujara and dominating batsman Virat Kohli.
Talking about the middle order, two players – Surya Kumar Yadav & KS Bharat have debuted today after Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant’s injury scare.
Talking about the most “surprising” bowling unit, team India will play with three spinners.
There has been a huge fuss on Ashwin’s fear against the Australian, hence he his definitely one of the most important bowlers in this game. Ravindra Jadeja makes a significant comeback to assit the blues as an all-rounder.
Axar Patel, surprisingly, is included in the playing XI as they target this pitch as a “spinner success” pitch.
Two pacers – Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj will be the incharge of the pace unit.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
