Following consecutive series wins against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, Team India is now gearing up for a greater challenge on home soil. In their upcoming assignment, the Rohit Sharma-led unit will take on Australia for the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The opening encounter of the four-match series is slated to begin on 9 February in Nagpur.
While the Aussie brigade has already reached the sub-continent, the Indian unit has also kickstarted their preparations for the highly-anticipated fixtures.
India vs Australia: Schedule, live streaming, squads, and all you need to know
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared some photographs of Team India’s first practice session in Nagpur on its official Twitter. In those snaps, a number of prominent players from the Indian side were spotted undergoing net sessions at the Vidarbha Cricket Stadium.
Among the batters, Virat Kohli, Chetashwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul spent some time batting in the nets. Rising star Suryakumar Yadav who has earned his maiden Test call-up for the series was also seen working on his batting. Mohammad Siraj and Jaydev Unadkat were clicked bowling at them.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who has remained out of the national unit for almost five months, owing to his knee surgery, was also seen sweating it out.
Chetashwar Pujara is one key player to watch out for, as he has had an impressive record against the Aussies. The right-handed batter has already faced them in 20 Tests and recorded as many as 1,893 runs including 5 centuries and 10 half-centuries.
The fans will also expect an all-out performance from Virat Kohli who has been in good touch in limited-over formats but has not been able to get going in red-ball cricket.
Opener KL Rahul who missed the New Zealand series will try to pick up his form. He managed to rack up just 57 runs in four innings in the test series against Bangladesh and will be keen to turn the tables.
India vs Australia: Five biggest controversies from past
On the other hand, the visiting side- Australia- have been going through their final preparation at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. They started off their training last Thursday on specially-made wickets in order to get accustomed to the Indian conditions. Aussie batters were also seen training against a duplicate of Ravichandran Ashwin.
India has an exceptional record against Australia in their own backyard and will look to continue their dominance at home. Looking at the earlier face-offs, India have so far hosted the Aussies in 14 Tests series and among them, came out victorious in eight of them, while the visitors have won only four with the other two ending in a draw. Moreover, the Men in Blue are also the reigning champions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.