IND vs AUS 1st Test: Members of Indian team and Australian Cricket team train at VCA Stadium, Nagpur

IND vs AUS 1st Test: Members of the Australian team and Indian team hit the ground up and running in Nagpur. In this four-match Test series, a lot is at stake apart from the coveted trophy. This series will also majorly decide who get to play in the WTC 2023 final.

India have a tough task ahead of them as far as their selection calls are concerned. With Rishabh Pant missing the series due to his tragic car accident in December, the duo of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid will have to leave behind either KS Bharat or Ishan Kishan. Though Kishan is a like-to-like replacement for Pant and might end up making his Test debut for India.

Virat Kohli is one of the most crucial members of this Indian team. Undoubtedly Kohli has been a stalwart of Indian cricket for many years now and as always he will want to impact this series positively. The former India captain is just 64 runs away from breaching the 25000 runs landmark across all formats in international cricket.

Pat Cummins is the spearhead of the Australian pace attack and he also is the leader of the pack. The Australian skipper will be leading Australia for the first time in this historic series. Cummins wants to embrace and overcome the Indian challenge and recently he has been vocal about it.

Indian superstar and Mumbai Indian stalwart Suryakumar Yadav might be in with a chance and debut for India in Test matches. Either Shubman Gill or Suryakumar Yadav can make it to India's final playing XI. If Shubman plays, KL Rahul bats 5 and if Suryakumar Yadav plays, KL Rahul opens the batting with skipper Rohit Sharma.

There is a lot of talk about the Nagpur track being a 'Rank Turner'. Team India have reportedly asked for a spinning track. Ravindra Jadeja loves to feed on these kinds of wickets. The Indian all-rounder is making his return to international cricket after 5 long months as he was down and out with a knee injury that further escalated into a surgery

Steve Smith has performed exceptionally well whenever he has travelled to India. The last time Australia visited India in 2017, Smith was the skipper of the Test side, but this time around he will participate just as a player. Smith emphasized about the Nagpur wicket being dry at one end and he has prepared himself well, especially for Ravichandran Ashwin.

The first Test match will start on February 9, 2023 and will be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur