Current India-Australia Test XI

Two teams. Both understand a 4-0 battering. One is playing without its first-choice captain. One was forced to play without its captain. One was dealing with transition. Another with loss. But, in the end, the teams together gave us a match that could make it to cricket’s First-match-of-the-series hall of fame. 'Together' could be ironical considering how tempers flared, largely an indication of how badly they wanted this match. And they gave it a fight that was fitting off the tragedy that struck Australian cricket. Some players were mediocre, but some rose above the occasion. Here is an attempt to look at a combined team, a team that could take the cake by the end of the series.

#12 Cheteshwar Pujara

It is still hard to come to terms with Cheteshwar Pujara not finding a spot in this team. Some captains might pick him over Ajinkya Rahane. A few might even ask for him over Shane Watson. Watson fans will cringe at this.

In terms of the runs scored alone, Pujara is a decent fit for the combined squad. He is gritty. He is technically right. He got a decent knock under his belt. A solid No.3 in Pujara badly needs a triple digit score now after a slew of starts that he has thrown away of late.

He might want to prove us wrong