India vs Australia: India's possible playing XI to face Australia in Bengaluru Test

India were on a roll in Test cricket. 19 games unbeaten on the trot, No.1 in Test rankings and to top it all everybody backed them to whitewash the Aussies.

But then came the first Test match in Pune. It all started on the wrong note for Indian captain Virat Kohli when he lost the toss and Australia chose to bat first.

The pitch from the outset assisted the spinners but the Aussie batsmen were able to make the adjustments as they scored 260 in their first innings.

By the time the Indians came out to bat, Australia’s Steve O’ Keefe was almost unplayable. The left-arm spinner snared match figures of 12/70 which in turn helped his side bowl out India for 105 and then 107.

In the end, the Indians lost by a massive margin of 333 runs. Now Kohli hasn’t faced such a situation too many times in his life and therefore we are quite sure he is going to rope in one or two changes to turn things around in the next game.

Here’s out probable Indian XI for the second Test in Bengaluru which starts from Saturday.

Squad: Virat Kohli(c), Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Abhinav Mukund, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya.

Openers

Murali Vijay will partner KL Rahul at the top

Though Abhinav Mukund is a part of the squad it is unlikely that he would get a game in at Bengaluru. The pair of Murali Vijay and KL Rahul who faltered in the first Test will in all probability be chosen once again to deliver.

Prior to this series, Vijay cracked a dazzling hundred against Bangladesh in a one-off Test match and there’s no reason why two failures with the bat will dent his confidence. On the other hand, Rahul got 64 in the first innings at Pune and he too would be raring to get a few more with the bat again.

If both of these openers get going India will have a platform to build on and match the Aussies’ firepower at the top. What will be interesting to see is how the duo goes about their job against such a potent bowling line-up.

Middle order

Kohli has been in prime form of late

After the series against West Indies in August last year Cheteshwar Pujara’s form was under immense scrutiny. But he scored truckloads of runs in the domestic circuit and then against New Zealand to cement his place in the side again.

Against England too, the Saurashtra batter scored two delightful centuries and then cracked an 83 against Bangladesh. However, in the first Test against Australia, he managed just 6 and 31 in both innings. He would ideally want to have a much-improved performance at the Chinnaswamy.

Apart from Pujara, captain Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha are almost certainties in the middle order.

Although Rahane’s form has been topsy-turvy, Kohli and Saha have had a brilliant run of form in the recent past.

Now if India are to play an extra batsman they have to drop Jayant Yadav, the offspinner who picked just two wickets in the last game and rope in Karun Nair.

Nair hasn’t had a game since scoring a triple hundred against England in the last Test. He can be a perfect answer to India’s batting woes.

Also, we will not be surprised if Kohli gives young all-rounder Hardik Pandya his debut as he can be a handful with both the ball and the willow.

Spinners

Both spinners have been in great form of late

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are the best that India have and there’s no doubt they will be in the playing XI unless one of them gets injured that is.

The duo together snared 11 wickets in the first Test at Pune and both looked quite menacing on a turning pitch. Had it not been for a few dropped catches they could have easily added to their wickets tally.

Now India will be in a quandary whether to play an extra spinner. If they choose to get in another tweaker, Pandya will have to provide a few overs alongside Umesh Yadav as a pace bowling all rounder.

India can, therefore, rope in chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav in the team as the third spinner.

Pacers

Who will be Umesh Yadav’s partner with the new ball?

Umesh Yadav has been in great form off late including the last Test where he snared six wickets in the game. He has been bowling with a lot of pace and using his variations wisely and therefore is an automatic choice in the playing XI.

Now in the absence of Mohammed Shami, there’s only Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma left in the pace bowling attack to accompany Umesh.

Kumar hasn’t been too impressive in the last few games and his lack of pace too has hurt him. Ishant, on the other hand, had an off game against Australia where he just bowled 14 overs in the entire game but has been bowling with a lot of pace and passion in the last few games.

Kohli might thus be tempted to give another match to Ishant instead of drafting in Kumar.

Although there are quite a few suggestions in the article, Kohli would not for a complete change of the setup and therefore we can expect just one or two replacements.

Here the probable playing XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav