India vs Australia | BCCI announce 12-man squad for series opener

India vs Australia | BCCI announce 12-man squad for series opener

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BCCI have released the 12-man list for the first Test against Australia which is scheduled to be played in Adelaide from December 6 onwards. Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri will most likely have to choose between picking Rohit Sharma or Hanuma Vihari in the final matchday squad on Thursday.

BCCI took to popular social media site Twitter to announce their 12-man squad for the upcoming series opener against the Aussies at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. The obvious choice that Virat Kohli and the rest of the Indian management will have to make is to pick between all-rounder Hanuma Vihari and opening batsman - Rohit Sharma.

While Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav both failed to make the cut for tomorrow’s game, the rest of the four Indian bowlers - Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and R Ashwin are expected to start for the visitors in the crucial opening match on December 6.

As expected, Prithvi Shaw, was not included in the squad as he continues recovery from the ankle injury suffered during the warm-up match but KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara along with Kohli will be part of the Indian batting line-up. Pujara will be keen to silence his critics and improve his record away from home.

Meanwhile, the major selection dilemma for Shastri & co. will be between Vihari and Rohit. The young all-rounder scored a 53 in the first innings in the warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI, batting ahead of Rohit (40) in the line-up and with limited time left in the game in the second innings, was pushed up to bat at number three. In addition to that, Vihari also bowled 12 overs in the game which could come in handy in case Kohli would want to mix things up in the middle and rattle the home team.

In stark contrast, Rohit has been sidelined from Test cricket for a while now. The Mumbai Indians captain was left out of the Test setup following a dismal series with the bat in South Africa, in which he scored 78 runs in 4 innings at 19.50, before he was called up for the Australia series.

Team India's 12 for the 1st Test against Australia in Adelaide: Virat Kohli (C), A Rahane (VC), KL Rahul, M Vijay, C Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, R Pant (WK), R Ashwin, M Shami, I Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah 

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