India announced its playing 11 for the first Test at Adelaide starting Thursday. Wriddhiman Saha and Prithvi Shaw both got picked in the Virat Kohli-led side. Shaw has been picked above Shubman Gill to open with Mayank Agarwal, while Saha pips Rishabh Pant to the side.
UPDATE🚨: Here’s #TeamIndia’s playing XI for the first Border-Gavaskar Test against Australia starting tomorrow in Adelaide. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/WbVRWrhqwi
Despite his poor recent run, Shaw picked over in-form Shubman Gill has raised eyebrows.
Hanuma Vihari has also been picked in the side, while Ravichandran Ashwin edged Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav as the specialist spinner in the side.
Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Umesh Yadav will be the three pacers for the Test. The rest of the squad remains as expected.
India Playing 11: Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav
India Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.
The Indian team has the current Border-Gavaskar trophy after their 2-1 win over Australia in the 2018-19 series. Virat Kohli had led the side to its first-ever series win on Australian soil in Tests. With Kohli set to leave after the first Test, India is bound to miss the services of their captain and a premier batsman.
With the addition of Steve Smith and David Warner to the squad, the hosts will wear a stronger look from the last series that they lost a couple of seasons back.