Ravichandran Ashwin to Play as Sole Spinner During 1st Test at Perth vs Australia - REPORT

India vs Australia, BGT: Amid all the speculations around the Indian playing XI, reports suggest that Ravichandran Ashwin will play as the sole spinner during the first Test at Perth. As per the report, this call is being taken because Australia have three left-handed batters in their line-up. They have Travis Head, Alex Carey and Usman Khawaja. Ashwin has a good record against left-handers. Also, the report claims that Nitish Reddy is in line to make his Test debut for India. The Indian team will already be without Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, which in itself is a huge setback. There is also uncertainty over Yashasvi Jaiswal's participation after he picked up a niggle during India's net session on Tuesday at the Optus stadium. 

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Jadeja, Sundar, Kuldeep to Miss Out?

If Ashwin is picked as the sole spinner, then Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav may miss out. 

Meanwhile, India would be well aware of their position on the World Test Championship table and they would also know what they need to do to make it to the summit clash. 

Claiming that it is not about missing Cheteshwar Pujara or himself, former India coach Rahul Dravid reckoned that the Top 4 in Australia would be important. 

"In Australia, runs at the top will be important. If your top 4 soak the initial period, it allows you to dominate games. It's not about missing me or Pujara, they just need runs from the top order". Dravid told EspnCricinfo.

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India's predicted playing XI against Australia in 1st Test

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul , Abhimanyu Easwaran/Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli , Rishabh Pant , Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana/ Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah , Mohammed Siraj

The first Test will be played at the Optus stadium in Perth starting November 22.