Indian captain MS Dhoni's rest raises World Cup questions Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni will miss the first Test against Australia. The decision to rest skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the first Test has heightened suspicions India has placed greater emphasis over the World Cup rather than the upcoming series against Australia. Dhoni's absence from the series opener has left India with a rookie captain, Virat Kohli, leading the side at a venue where Australia have not lost a Test since being beaten by Viv Richards' mighty West Indies side 26 years ago. It was at the Gabba last year where England melted in the face of a fiery performance from Mitchell Johnson in front of a hostile crowd baying for English blood. They never recovered. Brisbane's reputation as one of the fastest and bounciest wickets in world cricket is in marked contrast to the slow and low dustbowls India has become accustomed to at home. India were spared a visit to the Gabba two summers ago but that did not prevent them from slumping to a 4-0 humiliation. Their reputation away from home has not improved since, with just one victory in nine Tests and series defeats in South Africa, New Zealand and England. Against England, they led 1-0 after two Tests but in the final three Tests played in seam-friendly conditions they suffered three heavy defeats, including two by an innings. "But as soon as they moved to a wicket that did a little bit the white flags went up," former Australian Test seamer Stuart Clark said. Clark does not think retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is the No.1 priority for India this summer. Instead, they are more preoccupied with defending the World Cup they won in 2011, he believes. "I'd suggest India are very, very concerned about the World Cup," Clark said on Sky Sports Radio's Big Sports Breakfast program. That's a big thing in their cricket calendar, one-day cricket and the World Cup. The Test series is big but at the end of the day if they do well in the World Cup no one will care about the Test series over there. Australia's capitulation against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates has been dismissed by many in Australian cricket as a reflection of the team's poor form against spin rather than the sign of any malaise like the 4-0 defeat in India last year. Clark says India will struggle if they think they can exploit Australia's weaknesses against slow bowling in local conditions. And he does not believe off-spinner Ravi Ashwin will be able to replicate his heroics of last year when he topped the series wicket-takers' list with 29 at 20. "If India are going to come out and bowl spinners at us I think we'll come out and smash them everywhere," Clark said. They're going to Brisbane first. Other than Shane Warne, no spinner has ever really done a lot there and been overly successful. In Adelaide they'll be OK, but Sydney the last couple of years has been quite pace-friendly - it's been carrying through and seamed around everywhere. They'll play Ashwin - he's a good bowler in Indian conditions but I can't see him being overly successful here. India have decided to leave Dhoni out of the first Test to give him time to overcome a thumb injury which has sidelined him from the one-day series against Sri Lanka. Kohli has been named to captain his country in a Test for the first time. The fortress of the Gabba will provide a rigorous examination of Kohli's leadership. Two years ago Kohli was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for flipping the bird in reaction to abuse from fans during the Sydney Test. Kohli later said he had "never heard crap like that. I agree cricketers don't have to retaliate. What when the crowd says the worst things about your mother and sister. the worst I've heard," Kohli tweeted. But one of Kohli's coaches at his Indian Premier League franchise Bangalore, Australian Trent Woodhill, said the batsman would revel in the heat. "He'll love it, he wouldn't want it any other way," Woodhill said. Like Dhoni he's a leader and those guys are right behind him. He'll enjoy the occasion, he'll be up for the fight and enjoy the challenge.