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India vs Australia highlights: Cricket live scores, blog, 1st Test - Day 1

23rd February, 2017
First ball: 3pm AEDT
Venue: Pune
TV: Fox Sports
Betting: India $1.55, Australia $4.75, Draw $5
Umpires: Nigel Llong and Richard Kettleborough

Australia
Steven Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade (wk)

India
Kuldeep Yadav, Virat Kohli (c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinav Mukund, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Lokesh Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav
Australian captain Steve Smith. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
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23rd February, 2017
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The number one and two-ranked Test teams, India and Australia face each other in the first Test of a four-match series at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune starting on Thursday. Join The Roar for live scores & blog of the 1st Test from 3pm (AEDT).

Steve Smith’s Australia have the toughest assignment currently in world cricket ahead – taking on India in their home country. What’s more, it is a tour that has not traditionally brought the Australians much success in recent times.

The tourists have failed to win so much as a single Test in India since 2004-05, which was also the last time that they won a series there, triumphing 2-1 in a four-match series. Since then the Australians have been beaten 2008/09 0-2, 2010/11 0-2 and 2012/13 0-4, the latter two series being whitewashes.

On Australia’s most recent visit to Asia for a Test series, they were whitewashed in Sri Lanka, being completely undone by the home side’s spin attack.

India have reached the pinnacle of the Test rankings on the back of a long run of success, that has seen them unbeaten in Tests since their tour to Sri Lanka back in 2015, and even then they won the series 2-1. India’s last series defeat was in the season 2014-15 when they went to Australia and were beaten 0-2.

India will once more rely heavily on their captain Virat Kohli, who has been in stunning form since assuming the captaincy of the Test side, scoring nearly 1500 runs in his last 13 matches at an average of over 81.

There are still some questions about his leadership, as he hasn’t yet been truly put under pressure, as much of India’s recent run of success has been on home soil where they are so dominant.

Australia will hope that their leading fast bowler, Mitchell Starc, can produce the sort of form that he showed in the losing series in Sri Lanka, when he claimed 24 victims in the three Tests, and was the tourist’s most threatening weapon.

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If he can get his reverse swing working, he might just conceivably keep the visitors in the hunt for a Test win, if not a series success.

The Pune surface has been deemed to have some bounce for the fast bowlers by the curator, but ask an Aussie player and he will laugh it off and whisper at you: “It’s going to turn from day one.”

Whatever the case is, India will start favourites to win on the Pune ground’s Test debut and for Australia to overturn the odds, they will need to bat, bowl and field well over a substantial period of time. Be sure to join The Roar for live blog of this first Test from 3pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.

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