It was a dream come true for Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana who received their maiden test cap from Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin at Perth ahead of the opening match of the Border Gavaskar series. The duo caught the eye in the Indian Premier League, with Reddy starring for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Harshit Rana making his mark and winning his maiden IPL with the Kolkata Knight Riders under the mentorship of the current Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Jasprit Bumrah stumps everyone with playing XI
India's stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah left everyone stumped at the time of the toss as he confirmed the team's playing XI for the opening Test against Australia at Perth. Bumrah and head coach Gautam Gambhir, decided to spring a big surprise by picking spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar ahead of the veteran duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for the series opener. Sundar, coming into the series on the back of a terrific performance against New Zealand.
Speaking during the toss, Bumrah said, "We are going to bat first, looks like a good wicket. Very confident with our preparation. We played a Test match here in 2018 so we know what to expect. The wicket gets quicker. Nitish makes his debut. We have 4 quicks and Washi is the lone spinner,"
On the other hand Australia captain Pat Cummins after losing the toss said that his team would've also decided to bat first. But, it was a 50-50 call. "We were 50-50, either way we are pretty happy. Feel well placed, pretty fresh. Any format we (India-Australia) play seems fiercely fought. Nathan McSweeney makes our debut at the top of the order,"
AUS vs IND 1st Test Playing XI
India's Playing XI: 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's Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
