New Delhi: Team India will take on Australia in the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at The Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday, 14 December. The Men in Blue won the first Test by 295 runs in Perth but Pat Cummins and Co. made a strong comeback to win the second day-night Test by 10 wickets at the Adelaide Oval.
After the defeat, Team India slipped to third position in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table. Rohit and Co. need to win all the remaining games of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to qualify for the third consecutive WTC final. South Africa is currently at the top spot in the WTC points table while Australia is in second position.
Akash Deep in place of Harshit Rana
The Men in Blue are expected to make two changes in the playing XI for the third Test. In the net session before the Gabba Test, Akash Deep bowled longer spells than Harshit Rana and also batted a bit. India’s assistant coach kept a close eye on Akash Deep’s batting whenever the Bengal fast bowler faced spinners. While the net session doesn’t always offer a clue about playing XI. But based on the proceedings it did seem like Akash Deep might play ahead of Harshit Rana.
With the Brisbane pitch set to help the pacer, Rohit and Co. might also go with four pacers. As per the Gabba pitch curator, the wicket will offer a bit more pace and bounce as the surfaces are slightly different at the start of the season.
Washington Sundar in place of Ravichandran Ashwin
All-rounder Washington Sundar played a crucial role in India’s victory at the Gabba in 2021 and is likely to replace Ravichandran Ashwin in the third Test. Sundar played the opening Test of the series ahead of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. He scored 29 runs and took two crucial wickets.
Who will open with Yashasvi Jaiswal?
There has been a lot of conversation around Rohit Sharma’s batting position with many former cricketers urging him to open in the third Test. Rohit missed the first due to the birth of his second child and in his absence, KL Rahul and Jaiswal opened for Team India. In the Adelaide Test, Rohit batted at No.6 but the move did not work out as both Rahul and Rohit failed to score runs. However, the Men in Blue are likely to stick with the same batting order in the third Test.
India predicted XI: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Team India will face Australia in the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at The Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday, 14 December. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
