Prior to the opening Test in Nagpur, Dinesh Karthik forecasts team India’s starting XI.

Suryakumar Yadav was chosen by Karthik over Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan.
In front of India’s first Test match against Australia at Nagpur’s VCA Stadium, stumper-batter Dinesh Karthik has released his team’s starting lineup. It’s interesting to note that the cricketer skipper Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were chosen to open instead of Shubman Gill.

He also thinks that as Shreyas Iyer is currently sidelined with a back ailment, the flamboyant batter Suryakumar Yadav ought to play at number five.

Notably, the 37-year-old chose KS Bharat over Ishan Kishan to fill the position of wicketkeeper. Bharat has been on the road with the Indian team for a while, but he hasn’t been able to crack the starting lineup.
Although he has yet to receive his first Test call-up, he replaced Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps in an innings during the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur in 2021. But because the team’s usual goalkeeper Rishabh Pant is presently sidelined with an injury, Karthik feels that his moment has come.
Karthik has chosen Axar Patel over Kuldeep Yadav as India’s bowler. The cricketer from Gujarat has excelled in the game’s longest format, but according to former India head coach Ravi Shastri, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are pretty comparable as bowlers, thus Kuldeep ought to be chosen.

The left-arm wristspinner has 34 wickets in his Test career so far and is currently in excellent form. Despite this, Karthik chose Axar for the opening Test after watching him wreck havoc against England during their most recent four-match Test series in India.

Karthik has chosen Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami as his pace options for the first Test. Jasprit Bumrah, who is presently recovering from a back injury, will unquestionably be missed by Team India, but Shami and Siraj can make up for it in Nagpur.

Notably, the cricketer prefers that Ravindra Jadeja bat at number six in the contest instead of KS Bharat. He wants Jadeja to move up the order because there are no left-handed batters in the top seven.