Winning the first Test away from home is rare and team India achieved this feat in Perth beating Australia by 295 runs. Seldom does a team change the winning combination, especially after such a resounding victory. But team India are set to make a couple of changes at least for the second Test against Australia in Adelaide which will be played with the pink ball under the lights.
Rohit Sharma is set to take over the reins from Jasprit Bumrah after missing the series opener for the birth of his second child. However, he might refrain from opening the innings and slot in at the position where he used to before moving up the order the format. There is every possibility of the India captain batting at five or six at least in the pink-ball Test match.
The reason for the same is the way KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal batted at the top consuming deliveries and then scoring runs at will. Rahul, who stepped up to open in the absence of Rohit, batted 250 deliveries to notch up 103 runs across two innings in Perth. Hence, the same opening pair is likely to continue in Adelaide as well. Rohit Sharma will replace Dhruv Jurel unless there are last-minute injuries in the Indian camp.
With Shubman Gill proving his fitness in the warm-up game against Prime Minister's XI, he should return to bat at number three replacing Devdutt Padikkal. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant are certainties in the line-up while the bowling attack is also expected to be the same that fielded in Perth.
Jasprit Bumrah will lead the attack with Mohammed Siraj and Harshit Rana to assist him even as Nitish Reddy will fill in as the fourth pacer with Washington Sundar as the lone spinner. Ravichandran Ashwin played the last day-night Test in Adelaide but Sundar didn't do any harm to his reputation with his all-round skills in Perth and is likely to be persisted with.
India's possible playing XI for Perth Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Washington Sundar, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
