India Vs Australia 1st Test: India’s Test Team for Australia

India will compete with Australia for the Border-Gavaskar trophy in a four-match Test series. This encounter will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship. The two teams are built with world-class players. The cricket fanatics could be in for a tightly contested series across the four games.

The Test series will begin in Adelaide with the first Test scheduled to commence on December 17. After that, both sides will travel to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test. The third Test will be conducted in Sydney from January 7-11, 2021. And the final face-off is to take place at the Gabba stadium in Brisbane between January 15 to 19, 2021.

The Indian team has announced a 19-man squad for the four-match Test series. The upcoming series will be an excellent opportunity for talented youngsters. Virat Kohli will be leading the team for the first Test but will head home after that. The team management is likely to hand over the captaincy reins to Ajinkya Rahane after that. The Indian squad features a great mix of youth and experience.

However, team India will be without the services of Ishant Sharma, who suffered an injury during the IPL. Rohit Sharma is also likely to miss the first two Tests, but he will depart for Australia on December 12. The batsman will return for the final two games of the tour.

Team India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2019

India and Australia have completed playing three ODIs and three T20Is. The hosts won the limited over series whereas the visitors bounced back well to win the T20I series. Both sides will be looking forward to securing their place in the World Test Championship final which will be scheduled in 2021. Therefore, the teams will have the added boost of grabbing the win.

The visitors seized the Test series the last time they were in Australia. It was India’s maiden Test series win on Australian soil. However, Australia will get back the services of David Warner and Steve Smith in the squad this time around. The duo had missed the last series due to a ball-tampering ban in 2018.

India Test Squad:

Virat Kohli (Captain), R. Sharma, M. Agarwal, P. Shaw, KL Rahul, C. Pujara, A. Rahane (vice-captain), H. Vihari, S. Gill, W. Saha (wicket-keeper), R. Pant (wicket-keeper), J. Bumrah, M. Shami, U. Yadav, N. Saini, K. Yadav, R. Jadeja, R. Ashwin, M. Siraj.

Australia Test squad:

Tim Paine (captain), S. Abbott, J. Burns, P. Cummins, C. Green, J. Hazlewood, T. Head, M. Labuschagne, N. Lyon, M. Neser, J. Pattinson, W. Pucovski, S. Smith, M. Starc, M. Swepson, M. Wade, D. Warner.

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