IND vs AUS: Ravi Shastri predicts India Playing XI for India vs Australia 1st Test. Check Details

The wait for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is finally over. The pinnacle series of the sport will see India and Australia clashing with each other in the four-match series. The series will kick start with the Nagpur Test on February 9th. The focus will then shift to the second Test that will be played on 17th February in Delhi. The third game between the teams is slated to take place on 1st March in Dharamshala whereas the last game will be played on 9th March in Ahmedabad.

IND vs AUS: Ravi Shastri predicts India Playing XI for India vs Australia 1st Test

After toiling hard for nearly a week in the nets, both India and Australia are ready for the one final showdown. The two cricketing heavyweights put hard yards in the nets and it’s fair to say that they have left no stone unturned in their preparations to give an exciting encounter to the fans.

With Indian having couple of spots to be filled due to injuries of players, there have been lot of speculations about what combination they will play. Many fans and pundits have given their take on the same and the latest to join the bandwagon is former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri.

Shastri while naming skipper Rohit Sharma as the certain pick at top was confused between Shubman Gill and KL Rahul as the other opener. He said that it’ll depend on who team management wants and what they are thinking.

Ravi Shastri (in SEN) said "If the ball is going to turn, so be it. We never complained about pitches, it's home conditions, do what suits you. I watch SA vs AUS series, it was great, when I woke up on the 3rd day, there was no cricket".

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 8, 2023

Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli will bat at No.3 and No.4 in Shastri’s XI. But what was surprising that he picked Suryakumar Yadav at 5 in the absence of Shreyas Iyer as he feels that he’s a great player of spin and team need someone who is good at playing the right shots against spin.

Shastri said that team needs to pick best between Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat in the team. He feels that one who can keep the wickets well to the likes of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav should start. He also gave nod ahead to leg spinner ahead of Axar Patel.

The two quicks that Shastri feels should be in the team are Mohammad Siraj and Mohammed Shami. Here’s former Indian head coach’s playing XI for the first Test.

Rohit Sharma (C)
KL Rahul/Shubman Gill
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Suryakumar Yadav
KS Bharat/ Ishan Kishan
Ravindra Jadeja
R Ashwin
Kuldeep Yadav
Mohammed Siraj
Mohammad Shami

On his ICC Review debut, Ravi Shastri predicted India's possible XI for the first Test against Australia ?

Do you agree with his team? ?#WTC23 | #INDvAUS | More ➡ https://t.co/tsTmGrUUWx pic.twitter.com/eWiGvAmaRH

— ICC (@ICC) February 8, 2023

“India should look to win 4-0,” Ravi Shastri’s prediction for the series

Shastri while speaking to Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review said that India should look to win 4-0 as they are playing at home and they should think about winning.

“India should look to win 4-0, we’re playing at home. I’m brutal. I’ve been to two tours of Australia, I know what’s happened. My mindset would be, ‘How can I beat Australia 4-0 if I’m the coach’, which means day one, I want a ball to pitch on leg stump and hit off stump. I want it to rip.”

It remains to be seen what combination will India will pick and what will be the score line at the end of the series.