Team India gear up for Tour of Australia

The unsuccessful England tour will be in the minds of MS Dhoni & Co. when they travel to Down Under this month. India will play four Test matches in Australia. The Indian batsmen failed miserably before the pace and swing of England bowlers and lost the series 3-1 despite winning the first Test match at the Lord’s. During the last visit to Australia, the victory margin was 4-0 in favour of Australia. Team India is looking forward to put up a better show this time.

Although India lost the Test series 4-0 to Australia in 2011-12, they avenged the defeat when Australia visited India in 2013 and won by the same margin 4-0. The Aussies have already started the mind game with Glenn McGrath predicting a whitewash. “I saw India play the last three Test matches in the UK and by the end of it, they were a bit of a rabble. I have no issues with saying I think it’ll be 4-0,” he said. Can India prove him wrong?

MS Dhoni is not yet fully recovered and won’t be playing the first Test. Kohli will lead India in that match. Dhoni will be available in the remaining three Test matches. India have chosen three wicketkeepers for this tour – Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha and Naman Ojha. Stylish Karnataka batsman KL Rahul has been given the nod. Suresh Raina has made a comeback to the Test team after a long gap. No other significant changes have been made to the batting and bowling sections.

Team: MS Dhoni (C/WK), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Naman Ojha (WK), R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron.

Schedule:

Dec 04-08 – Australia v India, 1st Test (Brisbane) – 5:30 AM IST

Dec 12-16 – Australia v India, 2nd Test (Adelaide) – 5:30 AM IST

Dec 26-30 – Australia v India, 3rd Test (Melbourne) – 5:00 AM IST

Jan 03-07 – Australia v India, 4th Test (Sydney) – 5:00 AM IST.