IND: 77-1 (24) | IND VS AUS Day 2, 1st Test LIVE Cricket Score and Updates: Virat Kohli seeks a major accomplishment on Day 2

When the two teams square off in the opening encounter of the four-match Test series for the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), which got underway on Thursday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) venue in Nagpur, Team India will want to maintain their domination over Australia (February 9). India and captain Rohit Sharma will be aiming for a sizable first innings lead after bowling out Australia for 177 after being requested to bowl first by Pat Cummins. India trail Australia by 100 runs going into Day 2.

Since then, the Indian team has defeated the Australians three times: twice at home and once abroad. For both teams, the series is especially crucial as they try to secure a spot in the ICC World Test Championships (WTC) Final, which will be held at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11 this year.

The return of veterans like captain Rohit Sharma, former captain Virat Kohli, and vice-captain KL Rahul, all of whom skipped the three-match T20I series against the New Zealand, will energise India. Due to the absence of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, there are a few injury concerns.

Shubman Gill should be in line to replace Iyer for the match, and KS Bharat seems to be the favourite to grab the gloves for the first Test in Nagpur. With the surface anticipated to take spin early on, the 22 yards in Nagpur for the Test match have been a heated topic of conversation in the lead-up to this match.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s availability, who will play international cricket for the first time since the Asia Cup last year, will please Rohit Sharma. The two spinners in the attack are anticipated to be Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav.