IND vs AUS 2020: Indian Test Team for Australia Tour
India and Australia will battle it out for the Border-Gavaskar trophy in a four-match Test series as part of the ICC World Test Championship. The two teams are stacked with world-class players, and we could be in for a tightly contested series across the four games.
The series will begin in Adelaide with the first Test scheduled to begin on December 17. Following that, the two sides will travel to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test.
The third Test will take place in Sydney from January 7-11, 2021. And the final encounter will be held at the Gabba stadium in Brisbane between January 15-19, 2021.
India have announced a 19-man squad for the four match Test series, with a number of talented youngsters getting the call-up.
The team will be led by Virat Kohli for the first Test. But the India captain will head home on paternity leave after that, with Ajinkya Rahane set to take over. The squad features a great mix of youth and experience.
However, India will be without Ishant Sharma, who suffered an injury during the IPL. Rohit Sharma will also miss the first two Tests, but he will depart for Australia on December 12 and could return for the final two games of the tour.
India and Australia have already played three ODIs and three T20Is. The hosts won the ODI series, but India bounced back well to win the T20I series.
The winners of the Test series will likely secure their place in the World Test Championship final which will be held next year. So both teams will have the added incentive of wanting to win.
India won the Test series the last time they were in Australia, their first ever Test series win Down Under.
However, the Aussies will have David Warner and Steve Smith back in the squad this time around. The duo had missed the previous series due to a ball-tampering ban.
India Test Squad for Australia Tour
Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj