IND vs. AUS 1st test: The much-hyped India vs Australia Test series is just a few days away but the dilemma for the Indian team to select opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal still exists. Here in this post we will walk you through the possible opening options for India for the 1st Test IND vs AUS.
Perth Stadium is all set to host the first Test of the five-match Test series between India and Australia. The market of predictions and expectations is in turmoil and amidst all this, the Indian team suffered a setback when Shubman Gill was ruled out of the first Test due to a broken finger.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is keeping an end and the worries are for his partner. With the Indian captain currently unavailable for the first Test, BCCI was quite aware of the situation and added some opening options to the squad.
One of the options is Abhimanyu Easwaran, KL Rahul is the other and last but not least the team can get a surprise partner in Jaiswal.
Let's take a look at all the available options one by one:
Jaiswal's partner opens the 1st Test between IND and AUS
1- Abhimanyu Easwaran: A Dehradun born, brilliant young talent with massive runs and stats. His bat has had some great success in first-class cricket and he got his chance here in Australia. His first class average is just under 50 with the highest score being 233.
He has scored three big hundreds in his last eight innings but his form has waned in his last four innings in Australia. In two warm-up matches between India A and Australia A, his scores were 7 and 12 and 0 and 17, which is a matter of concern. However, he is most likely to open with Jaiswal in the 1st Test between IND and AUS.
2- KL Rahul: In the pre-tour press conference, Gambhir also hinted at this option when he said: “He has also taken wickets in the one-day format. So imagine, how many countries have players like KL who can actually open the bat and also bat at No. 6? I feel like he can get the job done for us if needed. Especially if Rohit is not available for the first Test.”
Apart from that, KL Rahul doesn't have that good numbers in Australia. In the five matches he has played in Australia, his batting average is 20, including a century. However, he is a good player and can handle the swinging ball at the top, making him a good contender to open.
3- Rishabh Pants: The odds for this selection are negative, but Rishabh Pant has opened the innings for India in the Test format in the past and can do the same in Australia. But head coach Gautam Gambhir likes a left-right combination, so this may be his least likely choice for the opening.
4- Virat Kohli: No team wants to use their best weapon at the frontline when the opponent is Australia, so this option is unlikely to materialize, but Gautam Gambhir could consider him as an option.
However, Abhimanyu Easwaran is likely to be Yashasvi Jaiswal's opening partner and India's move11 could be:
India's likely match11
Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah (C), Siraj, Akash Deep.
