IND vs AUS: Harbhajan Singh announces his playing XI, omits India's vice-captain from team

Former spinner Harbhajan Singh on Wednesday revealed his India's possible playing XI for upcoming first Test match of Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Harbhajan took to his official Twitter handle to reveal his predicted XI, in which he has left out India's vice-captain KL Rahul and has included Shubman Gill in his place. Earlier, 42-year-old went h said that he would play Suryakumar Yav at No. 5 position because of batsman's ability to play spin well. 

Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel that Suryakumar Yav is best option for No. 5 spot. He noted that Suryakumar is particularly strong against spin bowlers and has a sweep shot that works well. However, he also pointed out that KL Rahul is a quality batsman but mentioned that Shubman Gill should be given a chance to play. He emphasized that team should always be first priority and individual performances come after.

Harbhajan Singh's predicted India XI

1. Rohit Sharma (C)
2. Shubman Gill
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Virat Kohli
5. Suryakumar Yav
6. Ravindra Jeja
7. KS Bharat (wk)
8. Axar Patel
9. Ravichandran Ashwin
10. Mohammed Shami
11. Mohammed Siraj

Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Full squs

India's squ (first two Tests): Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yav, Ravindra Jeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yav, Jaydev Unkat, Suryakumar Yav.

Australia's squ: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis He, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matw Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

FIXTURES

1st Test, Nagpur: February 9-13 - 9:30 pm IST
2nd Test, Delhi: February 17-21 - 9:30 pm IST
3rd Test, Dharamsala: March 1-5 - 9:30 pm IST
4th Test, Ahmedab: March 9-13 - 9:30 pm IST

Image: AP/Twitter/BCCI