India's strongest plays 11 for 1st Test against Australia
Excitement is at its peak as the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins next week. Let's take a look at India's strongest team playing with 11 players in the 1st Test against Australia.
India have won the last two BGTs (2018/19 and 2020/21) Down Under and will be looking to make it a third consecutive time.
However, a recent loss to New Zealand posed some difficult questions to all departments and with this squad, India reached Australia 10 days before the first Test, which began in Perth on November 22.
India's wide range of talent has made selecting the strongest playing XI a challenge.
Here is an analysis of India's best line-up for the first Test against Australia
Openings: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul
Yashasvi Jaiswal is India's leading run-scorer in international cricket in 2024 with 1412 runs in 29 innings and will enter the BGT as one of the best to watch as even Australians are keen to see him play.
KL Rahul is likely to open with Yashasvi in place of India's regular captain Rohit Sharma as he is expected to miss the opening Test due to personal reasons.
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Middle order: Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (week), Dhruv Jurel
The middle order will feature Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant at number 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Dhruv Jurel plays at number 6 depending on the situation. Jurel was ahead of the India main team to prepare and adapt to the Australian conditions.
His performance in the second unofficial Test was clinical with 80 in the first innings and 68 in the second innings, making him a contender to take part in the 11th round in place of Sarfaraz Khan.
All-rounder: Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy
Jadeja will start as first-choice all-rounder, while Nitish Kumar Reddy will fit in perfectly on Perth's bounce. Reddy is a solid batsman and his medium pace will give India an additional bowling option in the game.
bowler: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
Jasprit Bumrah He will lead India's pace department with Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep, who are the top two pacers alongside him.
Siraj was the top wicket-taker for India with 13 wickets in three matches during the last BGT match in Australia 2020-21.
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