India's All-time Test XI in Australia
Indian will be touring Australia later this year and as a matter of fact, India has never won a Test series in Australia. Three times they have drawn the series; 1-1 in 1980-81 and 2003-04 and 0-0 in 1986-87. The Australian team will miss two of their best batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner who are facing a year ban because of the sandpaper scandal. With Warner and Smith not being in the squad, it will be an excellent opportunity for India to win the Test series for the first time on Australian soil.
That being said, India has given a tough fight to Australia in quite a few series. Although the scoreline in the last series in 2014-15 was 2-0 in favour of the Aussies, Indian batsmen put up quite a show. India probably lost the series because of the lack of good bowlers.
India won a Test match in Australia last in 2008 and it has been more than 10 years since then. They will be looking to win one this time around and probably win the series too.
Some Indian players have performed exceedingly well in Australia. Whether it is Kohli's lightning performance in the last series or Rahul Dravid's special hundred in Adelaide, there have been some exceptional performances from Indian players on the Australian soil.
With this in mind, let us look at the best Indian eleven on the Australian soil. This eleven is entirely based on the performances of the players in Australia alone.
#1 Openers
Let us look at the options for the opening slot.
Murali Vijay
Murali Vijay was the second best Indian batsman after Virat Kohli in the 2014 Australian tour. In 4 matches he scored 482 runs at an average of 60.25. He scored a century and 4 fifties.
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar was one of the few Indian openers who performed brilliantly in Australia. In 11 matches in Australia, he has 920 runs to his name at an average of 51.11. He scored 5 hundreds and 1 fifty. 172 was his highest score in Australia.
Virender Sehwag
Sehwag, in 11 matches in Australia, scored 1031 runs at an average of 46.86. He scored 5 fifties and 2 centuries. One of these was a score of 195 from just 233 in Melbourne in 2003.
Sunil Gavaskar will be the first choice of the opener as he has an impressive record in Australia. Between Sehwag and Vijay, Sehwag takes the second opener's slot mainly because of his ability to counterattack the opposition. Also, Vijay has just played one series and hence a more experienced player will be preferable.