Fri Nov 22 06:57:11 UTC 2024: ## Bumrah Leads India in Tense Start to Border-Gavaskar Trophy

**Perth, Australia (Nov 22, 2024)** – Jasprit Bumrah captained India in the first Test against Australia in Perth today, stepping in for the absent Rohit Sharma. India, after winning the toss, opted to bat first but faced a challenging start, losing six wickets before reaching the 100-run mark. At the time of writing, Rishabh Pant and Nitish Reddy were at the crease.

This opening match of the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy marks a significant clash between two cricketing giants. Historically, Australia holds a significant advantage in the head-to-head record, winning 45 out of 107 previous Test matches against India. However, the record on Australian soil is even more lopsided, with Australia winning 30 out of 52 matches played there compared to India’s 9 wins.

India fielded a slightly unexpected team, notably omitting Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from their playing XI. Debutants Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy featured in the lineup alongside established players like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.

Australia, under captain Pat Cummins, started their campaign with a strong bowling attack, quickly putting pressure on the Indian batting order.

The match is being played at the Optus Stadium in Perth and is expected to be a closely fought contest throughout the series. The full playing XIs for both teams are listed below:

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

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

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