Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket PlayersWatch: Suryakumar Yadav beams with pride as Shastri hands debut Test cap to India star before BGT opener vs Australia
World No.1 T20I batter Suryakumar and Indian wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat made their respective Test debuts in the series opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Thursday. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri handed the debut cap to SKY ahead of the 1st Test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
The long wait to see starman Suryakumar Yadav in the whites has finally come to an end as hosts India handed the white-ball maverick his debut Test cap in the series opener of the high-profile Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Thursday. World No.1 T20I batter Suryakumar and Indian wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat made their respective Test debuts in the curtain-raiser of the four-match series between Rohit Sharma-led Team India and Pat Cummins’ Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri, who guided Team India to back-to-back away series triumphs over Australia, handed the debut cap to Suryakumar before the traditional coin toss at Nagpur. While Team India handed debut caps to Suryakumar and Bharat, Todd Murphy was inducted into the Australian lineup for the series opener. Australia's Murphy received his maiden Test cap from veteran spinner Nathon Lyon.
Speaking at the coin toss, Indian skipper Rohit revealed that hosts India have opted to name three spinners and two seamers in its star-studded playing XI for the 1st Test against Australia. In-form batter Shubman Gill was not named in the Indian playing XI while vice-captain KL Rahul and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja returned to the Test side for the series opener against the Baggy Greens at Nagpur.
“We would have batted too. Looks pretty dry. There will be help for spinners. We got to wait and see how much it does. Yesterday when we started training we did see some seam movement for the pacers up front. We have had a good prep for the last 5-6 days. We trained on the aspects in store. This is a big one. We know the importance of the series but we also understand it's about winning one session at a time. It's a long series. Three spinners, two-seamers, Bharat and Suryakumar Yadav are debuting,” Rohit said at the coin toss.
India's playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia's playing XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland.
