On Wednesday, Team India announced their 12-member squad for the first Test against Australia, starting on Thursday, 6 December in Adelaide.
Both Rohit Sharma and Hanuma Vihari has been named in the squad and will most probably be competing for the same spot in the playing XI. As far as bowling is concerned, India has opted for three pacers - Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah - along with lone spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
In the warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI, Hanuma Vihari was among five Indian batsmen to cross the fifty run mark. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were the only top-order batsmen to not score a half-century. Vihari’s promotion in the second innings to No. 3, could be an indication of the final playing XI on Thursday.
In the absence of Prithvi Shaw, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul will hold the fort at the top of the batting-order. Shaw, who twisted his ankle in the warm-up game, was ruled out from the first Test.
Australia, on the other hand, dropped one of their vice-captains in Mitchell Marsh for Peter Handscomb, who has made a comeback to the squad for the first time since the tour of South Africa in March and April.
"Mitch Marsh probably hasn't been as consistent as he would like and we would like," captain Tim Paine told reporters at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, The Austrailian skipper confirmed that Handscomb would bat fifth in the order with local favourite Travis Head at six.
The exclusion of Marsh is due to a poor tour of the United Arab Emirates where he managed to score only 30 runs from four innings against Pakistan and accounted for only two wickets.
Squads:
India (from): Virat Kohli (Captain), A Rahane (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, M Vijay, C Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, R Pant (WK), R Ashwin, M Shami, I Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia XI: Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (Captain), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
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