IND vs AUS 2022-23, 1st Test: Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat debut; Australia opts to bat
IND vs AUS 2022-23: India and Australia are facing off in the opening Nagpur Test on Thursday for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While the hosts have Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat debut, the visitors have chosen to bat first.
FollowThe stage is set for a 'Grand Test Series' as India and Australia hook up for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the opening Test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday. As both sides eye a place in the 2021-23 ICC World Test Championship Final, the series is highly significant to the two sides.
Ahead of the Test, the coin toss took place, which was won by the visitors, who had no hesitation in electing to bat first, given that the surface looked dry and would only deteriorate as the fixture progressed. As for the hosts, they handed the debut caps to middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav and wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat.
ALSO READ:Â IND vs AUS 2022-23, 1st Test - Hottest Fantasy XI picks, probables, prediction, where to watch and more
After winning the toss, Australian skipper Pat Cummins reported, "We are going to bat. It looks like a pretty even wicket towards the middle. 2017 was a big series. We can't wait to get this started. We have had good preparation. We feel we are well placed. Two changes: Todd Murphy in [debuts], [Peter] Handscomb in for Travis Head."
In the meantime, Indian captain Rohit Sharma registered, "We would have batted too. It 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 five-six days."
"We trained on the aspects in store. It 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," added Rohit.
Playing XI
IND: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc & wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
AUS: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Scott Boland.
