Australia vs India 2014-15: Probable Indian XI

After having being embarrassed in the Tests in the recent tour of England, India would go to Australia later this year without much expectations on their shoulders. Under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, the Indian team has won just one Test away from home since July 2011. How does the Indian team clear this mess and face up to the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris later this year? As the saying goes, it is much easier said than done. Yet, here we have a look at a possible Indian line-up that could face Australia and could possibly be an improvement on the team that took on England over the last two months.NOTE: This is solely the opinion of the writer and not of Sportskeeda as a whole.

#1 Murali Vijay

Murali Vijays selection in the Indian Test team was once ridiculed as he did not posses the technique to bat in tough conditions. But his recent performances in South Africa and England have silenced his critics to an extent. Despite failures in the final three Tests of the England Test series, one would think that the Tamil Nadu opener is a shoe-infor the Australian tour. In what has proven to be a troublesome spot for India to fill ever since Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhirs form dipped after the 2011 World Cup, Vijay has showed great concentration to see off the new ball on many ocassions.

#2 KL Rahul

As mentioned in the previous slide, the openers spot has be a bit of an Achilles heel for India overthe past three years. So much sothat the opening pair did not even once register a half-century opening partnership during the Test series against England. After his failures in the final two Tests of the series, it will be a huge surprise if we seeGautam Gambhir in Indian whites again. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawans technique deficiencies were unmasked in the swinging conditions of England and at this moment, it does not look like he is cut out to be a Test opener.

This is where we would have to fall back on the Ranji Trophy. KL Rahul was Karnatakas top scorer in their Ranji Trophy winning campaign last season and is a good shout to be entrusted with the responsibility of opening the batting in Australia. The man,who shares his name with state great Rahul Dravid, recently toured Australia with the India A team and scored a half-century in one of the two unofficial Tests.

#3 Cheteshwar Pujara

Despite his failures in England, Cheteshwar Pujara still remains the man who is expected to beIndias most prolific run scorer in Test cricket over the next decade. The Saurashtra batsman, who averaged above 60 before the tour of England, had a series to forget failing to get to 50 even once in 5 Tests. If India are to do well in Australia, Pujara has to be the man who holds the batting together like his preccessor in the number three position did during the tour of Australia in 2003-04.

#4 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli, who couldnt stop scoring runs over the past three years, got himself in an unholy mess during the tour of England where he, just like Pujara, couldnt get himself in to do any sort of damage to the English attack. His lack of judgement on when to leave deliveries outside the off-stump was his biggest downfall.

Kohli cemented himself in the Indian Test team during the last tour of Australia in 2010-11 where he stood tall in a crumbling batting line-up at Perth and followed it up with his first Test century at Adelaide.One hopes that Kohli works on his mistakes and comes back a stronger batsman.

#5 Ajinkya Rahane

Despite scoring 299 runs at a partly average of33.22 in the 5 Tests against England, Ajinkya Rahane is one of the few Indian batsmen who have come out of the tour without much damage done to their reputation. The Mumbaikar scored a fluent century at Lords on a green Lords day 1 wicket, one which inspired India to one of their famous Test wins in recent years.

#6 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, despite all his technicalproblems with thebat, showedgreat character as he stood tall amongst utter chaos in the Indian batting line-up. Dhonis place in the Indian team has often been questioned as Captain Coolhas failed to score a century outside the sub-continent in his international career. With neither Kohli or Pujara performing well in England, the man from Ranchi is expected to stay on as the captain for the Australian tour.

#7 Rishi Dhawan

India went in with the strategy of playing 5bowlers against England, but the ploy didnt play out on the field as Stuart Binny seldom bowled during the 3 Tests he played in. Having made just one 50 in the six innings he battedin, the Karnataka all-rounder wont have high hopes of making the Indian squad for the tour of Australia.

One player who can be considered for this role is Rishi Dhawan. The Himachal Pradesh cricketer was the top wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy last season, although one must consider that he played in Group C which has the weaker stateteams. Dhawan was included in the India A squad for the List A matches in Australia last month and he put in good shifts, especially with the bat, winning the final for the Indian team with a brilliant knock of 56* under pressure.

If India want to go in with three pace bowlers and two spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin or Akshar Patel can be considered for this role.

#8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Although Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked a spent force with the ball at the end of the England tour, theUttar Pradesh lad showed grit with both bat and ball at the start of the tour, which makes his place in the Indian line-up more or less secured. He could probably begiventime-off during the home West Indies series to stayfresh before the tour of Australia.

#9 Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma is the most experienced bowler in the reckoning for a place in the Indian tem currently. Ishants spell of 7/74 in Englands second innings at Lords saw him win the Man of the Match award in Indias only win overseas since July 2011. The Delhi pacer made his name down under in 2008 but hada tour to forget the last time India toured Australia in 2010-11. Ishant will surely be lookingforward to puttingthe ghosts of the last Australian tour past him as he hopes to lead a lackluster Indian pace attack to a country where India have never won a Test series in their cricketing history.

#10 Varun Aaron

For years, Indian fans have been crying out for a fast bowler who can threaten to knock over batsmen with his pace alone. With Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav, India currently have two such bowlers. While the latter was surprisingly neglected for the tour of England, the latter impressed many with his pace and even injured Stuart Broad with a bouncer.

Counting on such performances, the Jharkhand pacer is expected to retain his place in the XI in Australia, where the pitches will suit his style of bowling.

#11 Pragyan Ojha

In Sachin Tendulkars final Test against West Indies last year, it was this 27-year-old spinner who put in a Man of the Match performance to win the Test for India. For some reason, Pragyan Ojha has not played a single Test since. What is even more surprising is thatthe Bhubaneswar-born spinner is yet to play a single Test outside the sub-continent despite putting in good performances at home time and again.

It is only fair that, after repeated failures from the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadejaaway from home,Ojha is given an opportunity to prove his worth.