Australia's blockbuster Test season will kick off with them hosting India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting November 22. The series opener will be played at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Jasprit Bumrah will lead India for the second time in his career. Rohit Sharma stayed back in the country for the birth of his second child and will reportedly join Team India on November 24.
Apart from Rohit, India could also be without the services of Shubman Gill. The number 3 batsman suffered a blow to his thumb during the match simulation. India officially added Devdutt Padikkal to the Test squad on the eve of the game, seemingly confirming that he is set to play his second Test match.
Experienced batsman KL Rahul looks set to open the innings along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Abhimanyu Easwaran is part of the squad but is unlikely to make his debut in Perth.
With Rohit and Shubman absent, the onus will be on Virat Kohli to step up and score heavily in Perth. The former India captain failed in the home series against New Zealand and failed to score a total of 100 runs across six innings.
Nitish Reddy is highly likely to make his Test debut in Perth. Bumrah will lead the pace attack, which is likely to include Aakash Deep and Mohammed Siraj. R Ashwin looks set to pip Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar for a place in the final XI. The senior spinner has never played a Test match in Perth.
My India vs Australia Dream11 team
Rishabh Pant, Steve Smith, Travis Head (Captain), Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Mitchell Marsh, Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins (Vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood
Squads:
India: Jasprit Bumrah (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana
Australia: Pat Cummins (Captain), Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland