The 1st Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is just around the corner, and the excitement could not have been any higher. India have won and dominated the last two editions of the series, but what's worth mentioning is the fact that those series wins came in Australia. Since Australia is touring this India this time around, the pressure naturally is on them to give it back to India, and it wouldn't be an overstatement to say that Rohit Sharma's men will have to be at their very best against this Australian outfit. One wrong step and the Kangaroos will pounce on it.
Now, ahead of the 1st Test at Nagpur, former India openers and one of the greatest domestic players to ever play the game, Wasim Jaffer, put out his playing 11. This is what it looks like. "My India XI for First Test. 1. Rohit (c) 2. KL 3. Pujara 4. Virat 5. Shubman 6. Bharat (wk) 7. Jadeja 8. Ashwin 9. Kuldeep 10. Shami 11. Siraj. Hard to leave out Axar but Kuldeep brings variety as a wrist spinner," wrote Jaffer.
Jaffer's playing 11 makes perfect sense as it would be difficult and redundant to play both Axar and Jadeja and the same 11. Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja both provide India with the same kind of services. They aren't huge turners of the ball but can stick to one line and length and get the ball to hit the rough time and time again. With the bat in hand, both are more than capable of big innings. Jadjeja, even more so than Axar. But in Jadeja's absence, Axar brought out his A-game and more often than not, did the job for India. He even played a few match-winning innings.
More on Axar vs Jadeja here.
Also Read: IND vs AUS, 1st Test: Cheteshwar Pujara's blockbuster numbers against Australia at glance
