• By JE Sports Desk
  • Thu, 09 Feb 2023 10:02 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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India star batter Suraykumar Yadav and wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat get their debut cap in the opening Test of the four-match series against Australia in Nagpur on Thursday.

India skipper Rohit Sharma revealed at the toss that both will make their red-ball debut at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. Hosts picked Suryakumar for the no. 5 spot in place of injured Shreyas Iyer while Bharat got the opportunity in absence of Rishabh Pant.

Suryakumar got his India cap from former India head coach Ravi Shastri while senior player Cheteshwar Pujara handed the debut cap to Srikar Bharat.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first in the opening Test of the series. 

After losing the toss Rohit said, "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."

Teams:

India (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 (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.