India vs Australia 1st Test Highlights: IND thrash AUS by an innings and 132 runs, take 1-0 lead in series

Australia have won the toss, Cummins chooses to bat first. 

Right, here are Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins in their Test blazers. KL Rahul is practising, Rohit will most probably say that there will be no Gill today.  

Suryakumar Yadav has been handed his maiden Test cap by Ravi Shastri. KS Bharat will make his debut as well, having been handed the cap by Cheteshwar Pujara. India have hence opted to go with the better wicktkeeper and chances are that there will be no Shubman Gill today. 

Regardless of what the spinning wicket is like, it will always be one where Ashwin would be almost unplayable. He is one wicket away from he second quickest to the milestone behind Muralitharan to reach 450 Test wickets. 

Australia's last Test tour of India was fiery to say the least. There was the brain fade moment where Steve Smith looked towards the dressing room while contemplating whether to take a DRS or not, leading to Virat Kohli stepping just short of calling them cheats. Virat Kohli would later say that some friendships with the Australian players have been permantently damaged. That was in 2017 though, and since then Kohli has stepped for Smith in the 2019 World Cup and become chums with Glenn Maxwell playing for RCB so it's all good. Let's hope that doesn't mean it will be an overly friendly series though, some fire is always great in Test cricket. 

They will say a lot more during the toss that will happen in just under 35 minutes but this is what they had to say in the pre-match pressers. 

Pat Cummins: "I think that's part of the challenge of playing away. Home teams want to win at home. In Australia we're lucky we've got pace and bounce. But home match advantage, I don't think it's a terrible thing. It's just another challenge and it makes touring over here even harder when you know that the conditions are custom-made for them."

Rohit Sharma: "Speaking about the [talk of a] doctored wicket, I just feel that you've got to focus on the cricket that's going to be played for the next five days, and not worry too much about the pitch. The last series that we played here, a lot was spoken about the pitches and all that. I think all 22 cricketers who are going to play, they are all quality cricketers, so not to worry too much about what the pitch is going to be like, how much is it turning, how much is it seaming and all those kind of things. You've got to just come out and play good cricket and win the game, as simple as that."

The fact remains, though, that the Nagpur pitch is an unusual one. Most of the pitch appears reasonably well-watered, with a smattering of grass, and has two sharply defined bare areas at both ends of the pitch. That corresponds to a spinner's good length and a left-handed batter's off stump. The balls landing in those areas will behave inconsistenty and on top of that, it will wear down even more as the match progresses. It means that the going will be difficult for left hand batters, especially in the second innings, and Australia filled to brim with them.

The former India captain seems to have returned to his scintillating best in white ball cricket, particularly ODIs, but Tests are a different matter. He had an indifferent series to say the least in the tour of Bangladesh and now he has a chance to get back to his best at home against familiar opponents. The numbers don't make for good reading and Nathan Lyon's off-spin is clearly something that he will have to find a way past. Since January 2021, Virat Kohli averages 25.67 against spin for 12 dismissals. Against off-spin, he has been dismissed six times at an average of 20.50.

Ian Healy found an early way of absolving Australia of any wrongdoing incase they get pancaked in this series by stating that a defeat for the visitors will occur if India produce “unfair” pitches. That was probably one of the early words thrown into the battle over the legitimacy of Indian pitches that is fought every time England or Australia come to play a Test series in the country. Rohit Sharma, though, simplified what the players had to do over the course of the series. “You've got to just come out and play good cricket and win the game, as simple as that.”

Openers: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (captain)

Middle-order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav

Wicketkeeper: KL Rahul (vice-captain)

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin

Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav

Pacers: Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Shubman Gill seems unable to do any wrong at the moment and yet, there is a very realistic chance that he may not be included in the playing XI today at all. His opening position with captain Rohit Sharma is taken by KL Rahul, who will surely be given a run in the first two Tests at least despite his recent inconsistency. With the next two slots occupied by Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, Gill will surely have to play as a middle order batter coming in at No.5 but even there, he could miss out if India decide to be funky and give Suryakumar Yadav a go. Another combination that they could try is KL Rahul coming as a middle order batter, considering the fact that he will be India's wicketkeeper in the absence of Rishabh Pant. In that case, they can actually include Rahul, SKY and Gill in the same XI. Won't that be a sight.  

David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Swepson, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Lance Morris

Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav

India and Australia have played each other in 12 series, 50 Test matches to be sure before the contest was given its current name in 1996/97. A total of 27 series have been played between the two sides, Australia have won 12 times while India have 10 victories, the rest being draws.  

It's Test cricket time! A funny way of explaining the sport to one who is not aware of it and is curious enough to ask is that cricket is a game that is played over five days and we break for lunch and tea every now and then. Now, the new gen who have been given an overdose of the T20 smash and grab might wonder what in the world is the explainer on about but guess what kids, that is what cricket really is and so much more. From today, India and Australia, two of the heavyweights of the sport, will embark on a journey that will be a sporting contest but also a celebration of the original game. This won't be about entertainment, it might be about attrition and survival and yet, there are few sights in the sport more entertaining than a bunch of professionals in whites batting an obscene number of balls and bowling an obscene number of overs and fielding for an obscene number of hours in a day and shaking hands at the end of it all. As stated earlier, it's Test cricket time!