Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023: Australia opt to bat first; SuryaKumar Yadav, Bharat set for test debut

Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, won the toss and chose to bat first against India in the first Test of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which begins here on Thursday.

Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat made their Test debuts for India in the first Test of the four-match series on Thursday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha.

Former India captain and coach Ravi Shastri presented Yadav with his India Test cap, while Cheteshwar Pujara presented it to Bharat at the VCA Stadium in front of teammates and both players’ families.

📸📸#TeamIndia #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/2kNhHUc4W2

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 9, 2023

KS Bharat’s inclusion ahead of Ishan Kishan as a replacement for the injured Rishabh Pant was expected, given Kishan is a top-order batsman and India needed to boost their batting lineup in Pant’s absence.

Suryakumar also offers extra meat to the middle order, having been in excellent form in recent years and having played Ranji Trophy cricket for almost five and a half years.

Yadav, who is 32 years and 148 days old, is the 15th oldest player to play for India.

Australia also gave off-spinner Todd Murphy his first cap, which he received from fellow spinner Nathan Lyon.

Playing Xis:

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland.

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