Guwahati: Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bat first against India in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday.
India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy championship defence begins today at Nagpur with the first Test. Both Test and international debuts for India’s standout batsman Suryakumar Yadav and wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat are scheduled. Todd Murphy, an Australian spinner will play his first cricket match abroad.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins said at the toss, “We are going to bat. Looks like a pretty even wicket toward the middle. 2017 was a big series. Cannot wait to get this started. We have had good preparation. We feel we are really well placed. Two changes Todd Murphy in. Handscomb in for Travis Head.”
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said at the toss, “We would have batted too. Looks pretty dry. There will be help for spinners. We got to wait and see how much it does. Yesterday when we started training we did see some seam movement for the pacers up front. We have had good preparation for the last 5-6 days. We trained on the aspects in store. This is a big one. We know the importance of the series but we also understand it is about winning one session at a time. It is a long series. Three spinners, two seamers, Bharat and Suryakumar Yadav are debuting.”