Virat Kohli, India's captain across all formats, took to Twitter on Wednesday to express his excitement of playing Test cricket ahead of the first game of the four-match series against Australia, scheduled to begin from Thursday. "Excited to be back playing Test cricket Looking forward to a competitive game," Kohli captioned a photo collage on Twitter. Virat Kohli, having led India to Twenty20 International series win in Australia, will be flying back home after the completion of the first Test. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had granted paternity leave to the Indian skipper.
India will take the field without their most experienced fast-bowler Ishant Sharma, who was ruled out of the Test series and star batsman Rohit Sharma who boarded the flight to Down Under on Tuesday.
Rohit will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in Sydney and the batsman will be reassessed by the Team India medical staff post his quarantine.
For the hosts, injuries to David Warner and Will Pucovski have caused a few selection headaches.
Australia's star batsman Steve Smith also left the training session due to sore back on Tuesday but on the eve of the first game, Tim Paine confirmed that the number one Test batsman will take the field on Thursday.
Australia are the most successful team in day-night Tests, having won seven out of seven matches.
India played their first-ever pink-ball Test last year against Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata and won it comfortably by an innings and 46 runs.