(Cricket news) The World Test Championship 2021-23 cycle is at its final frontier. The participants of the final will be decided by the results of the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Currently India and Australia are the top 2 teams in the standings. The competition is fierce everytime Australia tour India but the World Test Championship adds another level of fire. The 1st Test will be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. The weather in Nagpur will be nice and warm throughout the 5 days. It will be interesting to see how the pitch is because there is already a lot of talk about it.

India’s possible playing XI:

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Bench: Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat

Leaving out Kuldeep Yadav will be a very tougher call but Axar Patel’s record at home is too good to ignore. Shreyas Iyer’s absence opens up a middle order spot for Shubman Gill who should get the nod ahead of Suryakumar Yadav. KS Bharat is definitely ahead of Ishan Kishan in the pecking order. India could go with 3 seamers if the conditions favor that but it is unlikely as Indian conditions are usually spin friendly. KL Rahul was one of the best performers the last time Australia toured India and this time around he is under massive pressure.

Australia’s possible playing XI:

David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Carey, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, Lance Morris, Scott Bolland

Bench: Peter Handscome, Todd Murphy, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson

Australia will be without star all-rounder Cameron Green and pace duo Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc. There are a couple of difficult selection calls for Australia to take. Green’s absence may force Australia to play 3 seamers as Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head can bowl spin. A lot of what Australia do will depend on Nathan Lyon who will be the leader of the Aussie attack. The series is extremely important for David Warner whose record in India isn’t that impressive.

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