India go into the four-match Test series against Australia with a settled squad and in confident mood. That bodes well for Virat Kohli, who will now look to make it seven series wins in a row by getting the better of the Aussies.
Ind vs Aus Test series -- things to look forward to
With things going swimmingly well on this big home season, the India selectors decided not to change too many things as far as the squad makeup was concerned, which was definitely the right thing to do.
As it stands at the moment, India have a pretty most-of-them-pick-themselves-on-their-own playing XI, with the only thing that might change being the balance of the team, based on the pitch conditions.
However, Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble have settled nicely on a winning formula and they will see absolutely no reason to change things around against Australia.
With Abhinav Mukund keeping his place in the squad as the backup opener and Kuldeep Yadav as the fourth spinner, India have plenty of strength in depth in there as well, and that is despite not being able to call upon the services of Mohammed Shami and Amit Mishra, who are injured.
Australia, after a scathing series defeat the last time they toured India and also at the hands of Sri Lanka last year, have named a squad which, they think, covers all bases. There are three specialist spinners in Nathan Lyon, Steve O'Keefe and Mitchell Swepson, while Ashton Agar and Glenn Maxwell are slow bowling options as well.
In Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, they have two of the premier fast bowlers in the world and much will depend on how much purchase they can get out of these India pitches, both with the new and old ball.
The batting, however, is what will decide the outcome of this series, and naturally, the bulk of the run-scoring will need to be done by Steve Smith, the captain, and David Warner, the opener.
As long as these two consistently keep making big scores, Australia will be in with a shout of taking something away from this series.
Squads:
India (first two Test matches): Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Abhinav Mukund, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
India (final two Test matches): Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Abhinav Mukund, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Australia: Steve Smith (C), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Steve O'Keefe, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird.
