India vs Australia: Virat Kohli's men to play their first pink ball overseas Test as Aussies look to extend their day-night winning streak

Australia have played seven day-night Tests and have never lost one.

File Photo (Twitter/@ICC)

Adelaide: The Virat Kohli-led Indian side is all set to take on Tim Paine's Australia in the four-match Test series opener on Thursday (December 17, 2020) at the Adelaide Oval.

The match will be played under the lights and will be India's first pink-ball overseas Test. India have so far played just one day-night Test which they comfortably won against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in 2019.

On the other hand, the Aussies have played seven day-night Tests and have never lost one.

Virat Kohli in Tests at the Adelaide Oval:

Three matches
 431 runs
 Three hundreds
 71.83 average

How will the India skipper fare in the pink-ball Test?#AUSvIND | #WTC21 pic.twitter.com/tVGG1kRDre — ICC (@ICC) December 16, 2020

Steve Smith has taken  catches in day/night Tests – the most by a fielder other than the wicket-keeper 

How many more will he take in Adelaide?  #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/3sf1BOrlxD

— ICC (@ICC) December 16, 2020

However, the Indians will have a psychological advantage as they created history when they toured Australia in 2018. India had won the four-match series 2-1 to register country's first Test series victory on the Australian soil.

s in the last #AUSvIND Test series:


Which Aussie batter are you backing to reach three figures this time? pic.twitter.com/FpAJ1URcjv — ICC (@ICC) December 16, 2020

The Indian pacers, notably, played a crucial role in their series win and the visitors are still confident that they have enough firepower even without the injured pace spearhead Ishant Sharma. On this tour, India will look to ride high on the experience of Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah. They will also be supported by the new comers Navdeep Saini and Mohammad Siraj, if/when needed.

The Kangaroos, on the other hand, are also up for a strong fight as their pace unit has top-notch bowlers like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. This pace trio can be lethal for any batting lineup in the world and will be very crucial in the upcoming Test series. 

However, in the Test series opener, both the teams will struggle with their opening pair as David Warner and Rohit Sharma are going to miss the match. While Warner has been ruled out with an adductor muscle injury and will target a return in the second game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Rohit who was injured during the Indian Premier League season is likely to join the squad in the third Test after completing his COVID-19 quarantine protocols.

Meanwhile, India have revealed their much-awaited playing XI and included Prithvi Shaw to open along with Mayank Agarwal. Wriddhiman Saha has also been selected as the wicketkeeper over young Rishabh Pant.

UPDATE: Here’s #TeamIndia’s playing XI for the first Border-Gavaskar Test against Australia starting tomorrow in Adelaide. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/WbVRWrhqwi — BCCI (@BCCI) December 16, 2020

Australia, however, won't announce their starting XI until Thursday's coin toss, but skipper Tim Paine has given a strong indication that Joe Burns will retain his place and all-rounder Cameron Green is also set to make his debut.

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj.

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner.