IND VS AUS FIRST TEST PLAYING XI AT ADELAIDE. CAN YOU GUESS?

After the T20 series ended in a 1-1 draw, India and Australia will lock horns in a four-match Test series starting with the first Test in Adelaide from December 6.

In their last two overseas tours this year, India lost by a 2-1 margin to South Africa and a 4-1 margin to England. While the team's performances aren’t necessarily reflected by those numbers yet the players know they cannot afford a slip-up against an Australian side still reeling from the ball tampering scandal that rocked them earlier this year.


Australia will still be without Steve Smith and David Warner who were handed one year bans for their roles in the ball tampering incident. The squad lacks the batting firepower that both Smith and Warner provide and recently lost 1-0 in a Test series against Pakistan in the UAE.

The series provides Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his team an opportunity to create history by becoming the first side to win a Test series Down Under. India’s past record in Australia isn’t very encouraging with the team managing just five wins in the last 44 Test matches. Moreover, India have only managed to draw two series in the past 70 years, under Sunil Gavaskar in 1980-81 and Saurav Ganguly in 2003-04.

Squads:

India (12-member squad): Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia (Playing XI): Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Tim Paine (C & wk), Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc.