Australia vs India 2018-19: India’s best XI for the first Test

Middle Order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari

Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara

At number 3, it’s most likely going to be Cheteshwar Pujara. Pujara hasn’t had the best year, but it’s important to remember that everyone goes through rough patches in their career.

In 2018, he has accumulated 509 runs in 17 innings with one hundred and three fifties. However, his experience will come in handy while taking on the mighty Aussie bowling attack spearheaded by Mitchell Start and Josh Hazlewood.

Pujara’s record against Australia is also very good. He has scored two hundred and 6 fifties against them, although his track record in Australia is still quite poor. He will have to put all that behind him and look to build strong partnerships in the middle.

Virat Kohl is India’s best batsman at the moment and he will most definitely bat at number 4. The Indian skipper has had one of the best years of his career in 2018, and just seems to be scoring runs for fun at the moment.

Kohli's batting form against the Aussies only seems to improve exponentially. He has scored a total of 6 tons against Australia and averages 50.84, with 5 of those centuries coming in Australia.

With the form Kohli is currently in, we can expect another cracker of a performance from him. He will be looking to lead the charge and take the fight to the Aussies.

Ajinkya Rahane hasn’t had the best of years in 2018. He has been struggling, to put it mildly, and hasn’t been of much help to India. But Rahane is a reliable batsman when the team needs to stabilize the innings after a collapse at the top.

If India find themselves struggling at 100/5, then Rahane could be the man who can save their innings. Rahane is also someone who holds a good track record against Australia, and he will look to pile on more runs this series.

Hanuma Vihari has produced good results over the past few years in the domestic circuit, which has led to his selection. His form continued in India’s practice match, as he scored a fine half century batting in the middle order.

Vihari is someone the Australians may not know a lot about, and this could be used to India’s advantage.