India vs Australia 1st Test Match Preview, Team Squads & Live Streaming Details
Both of the powerhouse teams in Cricket (India & Australia) are all set to face each other in the most awaited and hyped test series namely Border-Gavaskar Trophy which is scheduled to have four test matches being played in this series which will also determine who will be the first finalist in the World Test Championship Final which is to be played in Oval, London from June 7 to 11, 2023. For this series, team Australia has tried its best to prepare itself against the big spin challenge they have to face in India from the very first day of the game but no matter how much you prepare defeating India at home is something very difficult to achieve because of a great squad strength team India got.
India vs Australia 1st Test Match Summary
The first test match will be played in Nagpur which often supports spin bowling a great deal and the match is scheduled to be started at 9:30 Indian Standard Time.
| Series | Border-Gavaskar Trophy |
| Venue | Vidarbha Cricket Stadium (VCA) |
| Toss Timing | 9:00 am IST |
| Match Timing | 9:00 am IST |
1st Test Match Pitch Conditions
The pitch was officially revealed 2 days ago and since then there has been a debate going around with charges of pitch doctoring as this pitch looks to be built on purpose to dismantle left-handed batters of Australia. Social media has erupted after seeing some bare patches on both sides of the pitches which are probably created through selective watering, selective rolling, and selective mowing which is precise to be played on spots called spinner’s good length and may trouble more left-handed batters as it will be their off stump area.
Right-handed batters may find less difficulty on this pitch due to these bare patches as it will be outside their leg stump. BCCI has gone with this approach with the explicit goal of utilizing the home team advantage as team Australia is expected to have five to six left-handed batters in the lineup.
India vs Australia 1st Test Live Streaming
All cricket fans in India can enjoy this highly competitive test match on Star Sports Network in Hindi as well as in different regional languages. To watch INDvAUS 1st live streaming you can tune into the Disney+Hotstar network at a very affordable subscription fee which not only provides you access to cricket live streaming but also many OTT shows & dramas at your fingertips.
Cricket fans in Australia can watch the live coverage of the INDvAUS 1st Test on the Fox Cricket network while the live streaming can be accessed on Kayo Sports which is available on both Android & iOS ecosystems.
Cricket fans in other regions can also enjoy uninterrupted live coverage of Australia tour of India 2023 on free websites like WebCric, TouchCric, or CricHD who will have live match banners on their homepage which any user can click on and instantly enjoy the highly competitive test series.
India vs Australia 1st Test Team Squads
Both teams have confirmed their team squads for the 1st Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which has seen some bold calls from Australia as picked debutant Todd Murphy for this big occasion while making a very bold and shocking call to drop Travis head who has averaged more than 50 in Test cricket since the start of the 2021-22 Ashes as Peter Handscomb and Matthew Renshaw was preferred to bat in the middle order. While for India, KS Bharat got his dream call for his debut match for India as a wicket-keeper.
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Scott Boland & Pat Cummins are the front-line seamers for Australia to trouble India batters with the new ball as well as grab out any reverse swing on offer. Ashton Agar couldn’t be selected as Murphy got the edge for his maiden test call for Australia.
Travis head might be dropped for this test mainly because of his past below-average performances in Asia as averages only 21.30 in Asia plus the pitch bare patches designed to trouble left-handed batters may have been another point that made them sit out Travis for this Nagpur test.
Who Won the Toss?
Pat Cummins won the toss and immediately decided to bat first as he knows this pitch will get worst as the match progresses and the bare patches specially designed will get worse in the 4th innings. Australia would ideally want to score a minimum of 350 runs in the first innings to give themselves a chance to create history in this Nagpur test.
India vs Australia 1st Test Match Prediction
Many bookmakers & cricket experts predict India as strong favorites for this test match mainly because of the spin quality team India got in the likes of Ashwin, Axar & Jadeja who are experts in utilizing these Indian spin-friendly conditions. Australia is the underdogs and they got a huge advantage by winning the toss and batting 1st. If team Australia can pile up a good first-innings score and with early wickets in India’s 1st innings match can go into Australia’s grasps.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gil are the top batting picks for India while Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and David Warner are expected to be the top-performing batters for Australia.
