Strongest  Indian playing XI for the Test series in Australia

The Indian team has an excellent opportunity to beat Australia on their home turf for the first time as the current Australian team is relatively inexperienced to their former counterparts. The team is still struggling in the aftermath of the bans given to Steven Smith and David Warner after the ball-tampering controversy. Virat Kohli's team needs to be ruthless in their approach by taking advantage of the current situation of the Australian team and put in power packed performances to win their first series in Australia. The team selection would play a huge role in India performing well in the series down under.

Let's look at the strongest playing XI India can select to beat Australia in the upcoming test series between the two rival nations-

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#1 Openers - Prithvi Shaw and KL Rahul

Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw is a talented young cricketer from Mumbai who recently hit a century on his Test debut against the West Indies. He has a good batting technique and looks to bat as long he can. His attacking game allows the batsman at another end to settle in easily while beginning their innings. He has a good first-class record with an average above 55.

He is definitely someone who can solve Indian team's opening wicket woes. He has been praised by all former cricket legends for his batting performances and has been hailed as a future test star. He has the mental ability to do well in Australia and help India compete well during the Australian tour.

KL Rahul

KL Rahul is an elegant opening batsman from Karnataka. He has already hit a century on his last tour down under and has a decent test record with an average of around 37 and has scored 5 centuries at test level. Rahul has already proved that he can score centuries outside India with three of his five hundred coming in foreign venues. In recent, he has developed a weakness against the in-swinger delivery. If he can counter the in-swinger before leaving for Australia, he will definitely become a force to reckon with.

#2 Middle order - Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane

England v India: Specsavers 4th Test - Day Two

Pujara is a masterful batsman and has the technique to succeed well at the test level. He has excellent test record with an average nearing 50 and has scored 15 centuries. He has been criticized for scoring well in only subcontinent conditions where his batting average is over 60. He recently responded to his by scoring a brilliant 132 against England and proved that he definitely has the game to become the backbone of the Indian team. He needs to carry his form from England to Australia to help India compete well.

Kohli is a cricketing great who possesses a knack of producing magnificent hundreds and has been the mainstay of Indian batting for a long time. He has delivered the goods when others have failed to provide substantial batting support to him. He has a superb batting record in Australia with five centuries and 992 runs in just 8 matches. Kohli just needs to do what perform in his usual fantastic way and wish that others also play well for India to win the series.

Rahane is India's most dependable middle-order batsman when playing abroad after Kohli. He has scored 6 of his 10 centuries outside India. He has an average of 46.32 while playing abroad which is higher than his overall career average of 40.91. He needs to perform to the best of his abilities to help India do well in Australia.

#3 Wicketkeeper and all-rounder - Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant is a young test cricketer who recently scored his maiden century during the tour of England. During the course of his maiden century, he broke the record for the highest test score by an Indian keeper in the fourth innings of a test match. He has the talent to perform at the highest level and should definitely be groomed for the future by the selectors and team management as he is still relatively very young.

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja is in splendid form after his selection during the England series. He is batting well and scored his maiden test century against the West Indies. His bowling has also scalped useful wickets for the Indian team. He should be a definite selection for the all-rounder's spot and if possible also the lone spinner spot during the Australia tour.

#4 Fast bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar is a lethal swing bowler with a knack of getting early wickets. He has the ability to swing the bowl both ways of the wicket and usually bowls with a good line and length. He has played only one test in Australia and will look to create a good bowling record there during the upcoming Australian tour.

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is always a threat for any opposition batsman as he is always looking to attack and take wickets. He is a great find for India and has become a top performer for the Indian team. He is the x-factor in the Indian bowling unit as he has the ability to understand the situation of the game very well and delivers good performances when the team requires it.

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma is the work-horse in the Indian fast bowling unit. His ability to hold down one end helps the other pace bowlers to attack from the other end and take wickets. When the situation demands he can also bowl aggressively and make the opposition batsmen give away their wickets. His bowling will be crucial to India's chances during the Australian tour.

Mohammad Shami

Mohammad Shami possesses good pace and moves the old and the new ball equally well. He has the ability to pluck out wickets out of nowhere when the team is struggling to take a wicket. He needs to bowl well in Australia and support the other fast bowlers to lead India to a maiden series win down under.