The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has indirectly revealed India’s playing XI ahead of the first Test match against Australia on its social media handle. Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, Tema India will be hosting Australia for a 4-match Test series scheduled to commence on Thursday, February 9 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur.
While the crucial Test series accounts for a spot in the World Test Championship 2021-23 final, the underlying question remains, how exactly will the two cricketing powerhouses’ line up in the opening game of the Border Gavaskar trophy? On the eve of the first Test, the BCCI took to their social media to share pictures of the players with a rather subtle hint as to who will feature in the playing XI against the dominant Aussies.
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“Nagpur, ARE YOU READY, #TeamIndia | #INDvAUS,” captioned BCCI on their Twitter handle.In the post shared by the BCCI, the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul, Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara, and the batting maestro Virat Kohli, to name a few, were seen to be featured in the pictures.
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 8, 2023
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 8, 2023
There have been a plethora of stern reactions coming in from Australia after seeing Nagpur’s pitch for the first Test. The Jamtha stadium ground staff did some special fine-tuning in the age-old Indian way on Tuesday. Reports also claimed that skipper Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid discussed with the pitch curator to prepare ‘rank turners’ for the first Test.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri didn’t mince his words as he comes hard on the so-called Australian experts for criticizing the pitch being readied for the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar trophy. One Australian journalist called the Nagpur pitch dodgy, while another report speculated on what India’s tactics were as the pitch was watered and others were left “bone dry”.
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A host on SEN’s Sportsday reckoned the dry pitch amounted to cheating and Ravi Shastri shut him down in his inimitable style. As per the quotes in India Today, Ravi Shastri said, “That is bulls**t! It’s more hype than anything else surrounding this first Test match. It always happens, you get 15mm grass, 18mm grass, or 12mm grass in different places around the ground … at the end of this first Test, I’m sure there’ll be someone who scores a hundred.”
