India vs Australia, 1st Test: Probable XIs, Match Prediction, Weather Forecast, Pitch Report, and Live Streaming Details

India and Australia are set to lock horns in the first game of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series on Thursday, February 9. The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur will host the contest.

Australia, led by Pat Cummins, have had plenty to worry about, mostly due to injury concerns. Mitchell Starc sustained a finger injury in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa and has already been ruled out of the opening game. Josh Hazlewood, on the other hand, sustained a left Achilles tendon injury.

Cameron Green is also set to miss the opening Test as he is yet to recover from a finger injury on his right hand that he sustained against the Proteas. The Aussies are most likely to play a four-man bowling attack. Peter Handscomb has a chance to make the cut, keeping in mind the number of left-handers they have.

India are likely to play three spinners in the Nagpur Test, KL Rahul said in a press conference. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are the two spinners the hosts are set to field, with Axar Patel most likely to be the third spinner ahead of Kuldeep Yadav because of his incredible numbers on Indian soil.

Rohit Sharma is back to opening the batting and Shubman Gill will be hard done by if he is left out. Hence, with Gill and Rohit opening, Rahul may have to bat in the middle-order. The right-hander has said that he is more than happy to take up the challenge. It will also be interesting to see how Jadeja performs since he hasn’t played international cricket since September 2022.

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India vs Australia Match Details

Match: India vs Australia, 1st Test, Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Date and Time: February 9, 2023, Thursday, 09:30 am IST

Venue: VCA Stadium, Nagpur

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India vs Australia Pitch Report

The pitch in Nagpur is expected to help the spinners to a large extent. It won’t be surprising if the match doesn’t go to the fifth day. Batting first after winning the toss should be the way forward as the track is expected to deteriorate with time.

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India vs Australia Weather Forecast

There is no chance of rain throughout the duration of the match. Temperatures will be around the 33-degree Celsius mark. There will be clouds, but they won’t be threatening.

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India vs Australia Probable XIs

India

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami

Australia

David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey (wk), Peter Handscomb, Ashton Agar/Todd Murphy, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

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India vs Australia Match Prediction

Australia are currently sitting on top of the table in the World Test Championship 2021-23 points table, showing how dominating they have been. Although conditions will suit India, the Aussies can’t be ruled out since they have players who have done well in sub-continent conditions.

Prediction: The team batting first to win.

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India vs Australia TV and Live Streaming details

TV: Star Sports Network

Live Streaming: Hotstar