Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana are set to make their debuts for Team India in the opening match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, currently underway at Perth Stadium.

Interestingly, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are not included in the playing XI.

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Australia crumbles to 67-7 as Bumrah and Siraj dominate on challenging Perth pitch

For Austraia, opener Nathan McSweeney makes his debut.

Nitish, the dashing all-rounder

The 21-year-old will become India’s 315th Test cricketer. In his fledgling First-Class career, Reddy has played 23 matches, claiming 56 wickets at an average of 26.98. With the bat, he has scored 779 runs at an average of 21.05, including one century and two half-centuries. A medium-pacer by trade, Reddy's all-round capabilities have earned him a place in the starting XI for this highly anticipated series.

Harshit Rana: Rising star for India

Harshit Rana, a 22-year-old right-arm pacer from Delhi, made his IPL debut before featuring in his first-class match for Delhi a couple of years ago. The youngster was a standout performer for Kolkata Knight Riders during their IPL campaign earlier this year, taking 19 wickets and playing a key role in the team’s success.

In first-class cricket, Rana has played 10 matches, taking 43 wickets at an impressive average of 24.00. The young bowler is also a valuable lower-order batter, with a century and two half-centuries to his name.

Meanwhile, India captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Test match.

Following a disappointing home series against New Zealand, India will aim to regain their dominance in Test cricket as they face Australia in the eagerly awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Rohit Sharma is not playing in the match, with Bumrah taking up the captaincy responsibilities. India clinched the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2022-23 with a 2-1 victory and is determined to defend their title in Australia. However, they were defeated by Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final.

The team for the first test will be without key players - Mohammed Shami and Shubman Gill - due to fitness and injury concerns.

Virat Kohli, whose Test performance has declined recently, will be under the spotlight. 

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Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Harshit Rana | PTI
 Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Harshit Rana | Photo: PTI

The Teams:

India: Jasprit Bumrah (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj.

Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. (Agencies)