India and Australia are going to play the first match of the most awaited Border Gavaskar Trophy on 9th February 2023 at Nagpur. The Indian cricket team is without the services of their ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah and the reliable middle order batter Shreyas Iyer. Bumrah is likely to miss the entirety of the series, while Iyer is going to miss the first Test due to an injury. On the other hand, Australia is going to miss the services of Mitchell Starc in the 1st Test against India. The Aussie quick is recovering from an injury and will be added to the Australian squad after the 1st Test.
Currently, Australia are the favourites to win the first match as most of their batters are in form, and their bowling department is also doing well.
Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, David Warner and Usman Khawaja are all in wonderful touch. Recently, Steve Smith blasted back-to-back centuries in BPL and said he is eager to win the Test series against India in India. Pat Cummin, the current number 1 bowler in Test cricket, is going to lead the Australian bowling attack with the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon by his side. The formidable Australian bowling line-up can pose many problems for Indian batters who have been struggling in recent times.
Virat Kohli, the most reliable Indian batter, is going through the leanest patch of his career in Test cricket. He has a glaring weakness against spin, and Australia is bringing four of them. Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan are also not in fine touch at the moment. Also, the Indian bowling line-up will certainly feel the absence of Bumrah against Australia.
This makes Australia the favourite to win the 1st Test match of the series against India.