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Australia vs India : Australia vs India will lock their horns in the crucial third test at Sydney Cricket Ground on the 7th of January.
After decimating India in the opening Test at Adelaide, Australia are back to reality check before heading to Sydney. India under the captaincy of Rahane made a comeback of epic proportions to beat Australia at SCG. Who were riding high on confidence after knocking out India for just 36 runs in the opening test. The series now hangs in balance at 1-1 as we move to SCG for the 3rd test.
Australia vs India 3rd Test Preview & Analysis
India entered the 2nd test with many concerns which made their win even more memorable. Their flamboyant captain Virat Kohli flew home, they lost the services of their premium pacers Shami and Umesh. But these didn’t impact the ever calm Ajinkya Rahane who not just played the captain’s knock of 112. Rahane also executed his strategies to the fullest which paved the path for Team India in scripting a historical win.
India entered the second Test with three pacers and two spinners but they lost Umesh in the initial phase of 2nd innings due to the injury. The way Bumrah and Ashwin lead the bowling attack made difference in both the innings when the pitch seemed to be flat. However, it’s the batting unit that made sure of not throwing away the advantage that bowlers fetched. Rahane played one of his best test match innings and lead the team from the front to get a crucial lead of 131 which proved to be vital in the contest of the game. With an equal amount of concerns in both the camps, there are some changes in team composition that are bound to happen.
Team News: India vs Australia 3rd Test
Australia
Australia have dropped Joe Burns who has been highly unimpressive and their star opener David Warner is back into the squad. As per the words of Justin Langer, we can see Warner getting back into the playing XI on Thursday. We can expect a new opening partner for Warner as the team management has given a nod for the young Will Pucovski for his first Bagiee-Green.
The new opening pair of Warner-Pucovski means Matthew Wade is all set to move back to lower-middle order as Travis Head might have to warm the bench following his poor form.
India:
For India, the return of Rohit Sharma to the Test squad is a huge boost. We can expect Gill to open with Rohit. Mayank is all set to be dropped because of his poor performances in the first two tests.
As Umesh was ruled out of the series, India have the resources of Saini, Shardul Thakur, and Natarajan to replace him.
Jadeja and the debutant Saini who played crucial roles in the 2nd test will be part of the playing XI. Captain Rahane would love a similar kind of effort from their bowlers to go 2-1 in the series.
Weather: As it always been the case with Sydney, we can expect a few showers disturbing the play. It was a lot worse a week back. But the radar seems to be getting better to get enough cricket to have a result in this match.
Venue:
Sydney Cricket Ground
Date: 7/01/2021 to 11-01-2021
About Venue:
Sydney Cricket Ground is one of the oldest test venues which hosted its first match way back in 1882. Sydney usually is popular for the ‘New Year Test’ which actually happens in the first week of January. The ground is also popular for hosting the iconic Pink Tests by Jane McGrath Foundation. In the wake of the recent COVID outbreak, Cricket Australia is set to make further changes in limiting ground attendance.
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How will the pitch play?
S.C.G is always known for good batting wickets with the spinners coming into impact in the last two days. The average 1st innings score is 309 and the team winning the toss should have no hesitation in batting first.
Stats:
Total matches played: 108
Won batting first 47
Won bowling first 41
Highest total 705/7 (187.3 Ov) by IND vs AUS in the previous tour
Australia Predicted XI:
Tim Paine (c, wk), David Warner, Will Pucovski, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mathew Wade, Nathan Lyon, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc.
Squad: Tim Paine (captain) (wicket-keeper), Cameron Green, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade (wicket-keeper), Marcus Harris, David Warner, Sean Abbott, Will Pucovski.
India Predicted XI:
Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, T Natarajan, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.
Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj.