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India reveal XII for Adelaide Test

The No.6 spot is the last piece of the puzzle for the tourists ahead of the series opener

India will wait until match morning to name their XI for the first Test Domain Test against Australia at Adelaide Oval.

The tourists announced a 12-man squad in the wake of skipper Virat Kohli addressing the media in Adelaide, with allrounder Hanuma Vihari and hard-hitting batter Rohit Sharma set to compete for the one spot.

Vihari is a batting allrounder who bowls tidy off-spin and made 53 batting at No.6, ahead of Rohit, in India's warm-up game in Sydney against the Cricket Australia XI.

The 25-year-old made his Test debut at The Oval Test this year, making a first-innings 56 and taking 3-37.

His value as a fifth bowler could see him edge out Rohit, who made 40 from 55 balls against the CA XI. 

Rohit played the last of his 25 Tests against South Africa in January this year but has toured Australia before, averaging 28.83 in six innings with one half-century in 2014-15.  

India have never won a Test series on Australian soil and enter the series as the No.1 Test team in the world.

Without banned superstars Steve Smith and David Warner, the 2018-19 series could represent India's best chance to break their drought in Australia.

But Kohli is not taking Tim Paine's charges lightly. 

Aussies not 'vulnerable', declares Kohli

"I personally don't think any Australian side is vulnerable at home," Kohli said. "You cannot take any side for granted.

"Whatever happened, the skill level is still there. However much you talk or behave, it's your skill that counts. They still have the skill to dominate at home. 

"We're not taking anything for granted. We just want to focus on our skills and what we need to do. We're looking to correct things that haven't gone right in the past."

The tourists are expected to open with KL Rahul and Murali Vijay after the sickening ankle injury to youngster Prithvi Shaw last week.

Shaw suffered lateral ligament damage after severely rolling his ankle in India's sole tour match at the SCG.

Prithvi Shaw injured in SCG tour match

India are hopeful the 19-year-old will be fit for the second Test in Perth from November 14, but India coach Ravi Shastri said the Boxing Day Test is a more likely return.

"It was heartbreaking to see him go down," Shastri told SEN this morning.

"But the good thing is he's recovering quickly. He's already started walking. Hopefully if we can get him to run a bit by the weekend, that's really good signs.

"With youth on his side there might just be a case where he might recover quicker.

"We'll make a call as and when we get closer to Perth."

Australia XI: Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (c,wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood (vc)

India XII: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar