India vs Australia 1st Test Playing XI Tip-off: Shubman Gill or Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav or Axar Patel – who gets a game in Nagpur Test?

India  vs Australia Playing 11, Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023: Rohit Sharma-led India faces a stiff test against a formidable Australia side in the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar series that begins on Thursday.

The first match will be played at Nagpur and this will be the 103rd occasion when the two teams lock horns. In terms of head-to-head records, Australia is ahead with 43 wins. The hosts have won 30. Twenty-eight matches have been drawn, while one ended in a tie.
Apart from a couple of spots, the playing eleven of the team seems settled. KL Rahul is set to don the role of the vice-captain and will open with Rohit Sharma. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli will follow. Can Suryakumar Yadav’s ‘three-dimensional’ strokeplay earn him Rahul Dravid’s faith ahead of Shubman Gill is one question?
Ishan Kishan might leapfrog KS Bharat as an attacking wicket-keeper batter. Kona Bharat’s ability as a keeper is impressive, but despite a triple hundred at the Ranji level, one needs to be more sure about his capabilities as a batter while facing high-quality Test match bowling.
Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will be vying for a spot in the spin department. Patel looks favourite to get the nod.In the pace department, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj will lead the pack. One among Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav might make the cut.
Pitch Problem
A lot of talk has also surrounded the pitch. Things dramatically spiked up on Tuesday evening at the Jamtha stadium as the ground staff descended on the pitch for some special fine-tuning in the age-old Indian way. The entire surface was first watered, then only the centre of the pitch got the roller treatment, and extra watering done outside the left-hander’s leg stump. What was happening?
There are chances that on day one at Nagpur Test, fans can watch powdery dust to fly. While the puff of dust that usually comes off from ball 1 can indicate the pitch being a rank turner, it can also be a bluff according to a curator.
“There are instances where some of us leave just a puff of dust on the pitch, which will come off every now and then, but that is only on the top layer. Once that bottom layer holds firm, there will be nothing on it. These are subtle things only our batsmen will understand and get used to,” the curator told The Indian Express.
India vs Australia, 1st Test Weather Report: Rain is not likely to play a part in the game and temperatures will be around the 33-degree Celsius mark. There will be clouds, but they won’t be threatening any disruption in play.
India vs Australia, 1st Test Predicted XI:
India Predicted Playing XI: KL Rahul (vc), Rohit Sharma (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill/Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj.
Australia Predicted Playing XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Travis Head, Ashton Agar, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland
India vs Australia, 1st Test Squads
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav
Australia Squad: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Swepson, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Lance Morris