Australia vs India 2018: Probable Australian Playing XI for the First Test
India kicked off their tour to Australia with a T20I series which saw both the teams win one T20I each while the 2nd match of the series was washed out. Shikhar Dhawan and Krunal Pandya were the biggest positives for India in the T20 series but neither of them is a part of the Indian squad for the test series. The Indian team will next play a four-day practice match against the Cricket Australia XI ahead of the tests.
Tim Paine will lead the Australian team in the 4-match test series which will start from 6th December with the Adelaide Oval being the venue for the first test.
Here is the probable Australian XI for the first test match of the series -
Openers - Marcus Harris and Usman Khawaja
The Australian selectors have named debutante Marcus Harris in the squad as a potential opener and there are high chances that the left-handed batsman will make his Test debut against India at Adelaide. Marcus has amassed nearly 4,000 runs in first-class cricket playing for the teams of Victoria and Western Australia. He also has a highest score of 250* and Australia would love to place an unknown commodity against the Indian attack in the first test.
Usman Khawaja, the left-handed opener is expected to be Harris' partner since he had played a superb innings against Pakistan in the U.A.E. The Pakistan born player had helped Australia salvage a draw versus the hosts in the first test match of the series by scoring 141 runs off 302 balls in the 2nd innings. While Australia's T20I skipper Aaron Finch had opened for Australia in the UAE Justin Langer would certainly demote him to the middle order.