India vs Australia, 1st Test: Toss result and playing 11s, umpires list and pitch report

India v Australia Test Series Media Opportunity — Rohit Sharma (left) and Pat Cummins pose with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pic: Getty Images

After all the mega hype and some controversy over the Nagpur pitch, the India-Australia Border-Gavaskar Trophy finally gets underway at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. The hosts will be keen to maintain their dominance at home, where they haven’t lost a Test series since 2012. The series will also make or break their World Test Championship (WTC) final hopes, depending on the result.

Both sides have been hit by injuries to key players in the build-up to the contest. Rishabh Pant’s unavailability is a massive setback for India. The dashing keeper-batter has been their go-to man in a crisis situation over the last two seasons. The absence of middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer for the first Test will also force the hosts to make some changes to the batting.

Australia will be without two of their strike bowlers in Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for the opening Test. As such, there will be additional responsibility on skipper Pat Cummins and off-spinner Nathan Lyon. Australia have a strong batting line-up, but Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, and Travis Head will have a challenge on hand, having never played a Test in India before.

IND vs AUS 1st Test toss result

Australia have won the toss and decided to bat first. Speaking about the decision, Pat Cummins said:

“Looks like a pretty even wicket towards the middle. It’s going to be a challenge, but we have had good preparation.”

There are three debutants in the game. India are playing Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat, while Australia have handed the Baggy Green to Todd Murphy.

IND vs AUS 1st Test - Match playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat (w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

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Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (w), Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland.

IND vs AUS 1st Test pitch report

According to Sanjay Manjrekar, the soil looks pretty rough. There are cracks, but because there is grass, the cracks may stay intact. But the real talking point is the rough area right here - the left-hander against the left-arm spinner, it's going to be a nightmare for them because there is tremendous potential for left-arm spinners.

IND vs AUS 1st Test match players list

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav.

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Australia squad: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Swepson, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Lance Morris.