India vs Australia 1st BGT 2024-25 Test: Toss result and playing XIs, umpires list and pitch report
India are taking on Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth in the first Test of the five-match series. The visitors are without their captain Rohit Sharma, who is with his family back home following the birth of his second child. In his absence, pacer Jasprit Bumrah is leading India in Perth. The visitors are also missing the services of Shubman Gill, who is out with an injury.
India have beaten Australia in the last two Border-Gavaskar contests played Down Under. A hat-trick, however, seems like a highly challenging proposition. The visitors are coming into the series on the back of an unexpected 3-0 drubbing at home against New Zealand.
Significantly, India's key batters are short of runs and confidence. Both Rohit and Kohli scored less than 100 runs in six innings against the Kiwis. The rest, with the exception of Rishabh Pant, also struggled. In the bowling as well, India are missing one of their key players Mohammed Shami, at least for now.
India vs Australia 1st Test toss result
India won the toss and decided to bat first. Jasprit Bumrah said:
“Looks like a good wicket. We are very confident of the preparations that we have had, so we'll go with that.”
For India, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacer Harshit Rana will be making their Test debuts. Washington Sundar has been picked as the lone spinner. For Australia, Nathan McSweeney has been handed his debut at the top of the order.
IND vs AUS 1st Test match playing XIs
India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
IND vs AUS 1st Test pitch report
"It's a drop-in surface. Lot of green grass on it - 8 mm. And the new Kookaburra should have enough in it for both pace attacks. Because it's a drop-in surface though, don't expect a lot of bounce" - Matthew Hayden
IND vs AUS 1st Test match players list
India squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devdutt Padikkal, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Abhimanyu Easwaran
Australia squad: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland
IND vs AUS 1st Test match umpires
On-field umpires: Richard Kettleborough, Chris Gaffaney
TV umpire: Richard Illingworth
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle