7 hours Ago By Faham Uddin
Average over 50, six hundreds in 13 Tests, expectations were high from Virat Kohli in the first Test against Australia, but the veteran failed to overcome the lean run and was dismissed for just five runs by Josh Hazlewood. Kohli has looked a pale shadow of his own in the last few years and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy could well be the final opportunity for him to keep his place in the side. Meanwhile, the star batter was subjected to brutal trolling after the worst possible start to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The wicket of Kohli left India under massive pressure, reeling at 36-3 at the time of writing. Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal were dismissed for ducks. India Playing XI For 1st TestIndia made some bold calls while picking the playing XI for the first Test.
They dropped R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the XI, with Washington Sundar getting a nod. This was inspired by the fact that Australia have a lot of left-handers. It was a toss-up between him and Ashwin for the spinner role and Sundar got a nod as he is a better batter than Ashwin.
India also picked Dhruv Jurel ahead of Sarfaraz Khan. Jurel boosted his case after he scored twin fifties in the practice game against Australia A. India replaced Shubman Gill, who was ruled out of the Test due to a broken thumb, with Devutt Padikkal.
Must Win Series For IndiaThis is a must-win series for India if they are to keep the WTC final hopes alive. India need a 4-0 win to qualify for the final without depending on other results. A 3-1 or 3-2 win can also push them into the final but they will need a few other results to go their way.
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, Sports and around the world..
