No Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav As Dinesh Karthik Picks His India XI For 1st Test vs Australia

The four-match Test series between India and Australia, also known as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, is all set to kick off on Thursday, February 9 in Nagpur. For hosts India, the series is an opportunity to book a berth for the World Test Championship final of the ongoing 2021-23 cycle. On the other hand, guests Australia will be equally eager to consolidate the top spot in the WTC table. With just one day remaining for the high-octane series to kick off, cricket experts have started picking their playing XIs for both the sides. As of latest, veteran wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik has picked his India XI for the first Test against Australia that will take place at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

While announcing his India XI on Twitter, Karthik dropped Shubman Gill and picked KL Rahul to open the innings with captain Rohit Sharma. Another set of noticeable players that failed to make a cut in his XI were Kuldeep Yadav and Ishan Kishan.

It is interesting to note that Karthik batted for the Test debut of Suryakumar Yadav, who has been in impeccable form at the international level.

As regular wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is not a part of the series after meeting a horrific car crash in December last year, Karthik picked KS Bharat to play his role in the team.

The spinners in Karthik's XI included the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. Meanwhile, he decided to pick two pacers in the form of Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.

Here is Karthik's India XI for 1st Test vs Australia:

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, K S Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

My 11 for first test

Kl
Rohit
Pujara
Virat
SKY
Jadeja
K S Bharat
Ashwin
Axar
Shami
Siraj #BGT2023 #1stTest#IndiaVsAustralia

— DK (@DineshKarthik) February 8, 2023

India have won the last three editions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team India vs Australia, 1st Test India vs Australia, 2023 Dinesh Karthik Shubman Gill Kuldeep Yadav