The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is well and truly underway. For the opening Test in Perth, India have handed out debut caps to all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacer Harshit Rana and one waits to see how these two perform at the Optus Stadium in Perth. With Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana making their way into the playing XI, India have now handed out 7 debut caps across their last four Tests Down Under.
Who can forget the iconic 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy where an injury-ravaged India managed to stun Australia to win the four-match series 2-1. This win was all the more remarkable, considering the visitors were bundled out for 36 in the first Test in Adelaide.
In the 2020-21 series, first Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj made their debuts during the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
For the fourth and final Test at the Gabba, Brisbane, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah got ruled out due to injuries, and India were forced to make last minute changes to their playing XI.
As a result for this Test, the visitors had to give out three debut caps. The likes of Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan played their first Test for India.
Now, if you add Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy into the mix, India have had seven debutants across their last four Tests Down Under.
Who won the toss in Perth?
In the ongoing first Test in Perth, it was India captain Jasprit Bumrah, who won the toss and opted to bat first. The decision came as a surprise to some as the pitch at Optus Stadium is slated to offer pace, bounce and carry for the bowlers.
For Australia, Nathan McSweeney is making his debut and he is going to open the batting alongside Usman Khawaja.
The hosts have gone in with three frontline quicks in the form of Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, with Nathan Lyon playing as the lone frontline spinner.
When it comes to India, in the absence of Rohit Sharma and injured Shubman Gill, the management has gone in with KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal.
In place of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah is leading Team India and this is second time, captaining the country in a Test match.
India have won their previous two series Down Under, and the side needs to win the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy by a margin of 4-0 to make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) without depending on other results.
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