New Delhi: India will have to sort out skipper Rohit Sharma’s batting spot and hope their fumbling batters strike form in the fourth Test against Australia that begins on Boxing Day.
As the five-match Border-Gavaskar series is locked at 1-1 after three Tests, India can’t afford a slip up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, either in selecting their batting order or choosing the team composition.
Rohit’s lean patch even after demoting himself to the middle order in Adelaide and Brisbane to accommodate KL Rahul up top with Yashasvi Jaiswal haven’t helped the team nor improved his personal form.
It has led to the possibility of him returning to his usual opening slot with Rahul dropping to No.3, which could lead to Shubman Gill either slotting in the middle order or making way for Dhruv Jurel.
Continuous harping on his batting slot hasn’t amused Rohit, who has managed only 19 runs in two matches after skipping the series opener Perth for paternity leave.
If he decides to open and finds his big-scoring touch, it could give a fillip to the team, as it did with Sourav Ganguly’s 144 in 2003 in Brisbane. As the next two matches will decide the fate of the series, it is like a series within a series.
And what batter way could it be for a captain to lead the team by leading from the front with runs that could give some breathing space to fumbling Virat Kohli too and determine how many India score at the MCG.
“I think who bats where, we should be discussing that within ourselves and I shouldn’t be answering this question in every press conference,” Rohit said in a pre-match chat with reporters.
Bowling composition
Just as their batting, India’s bowling combination is yet to be settled for the game that will be played under temperatures of 40 degrees celsius.
It could prompt inclusion of Washington Sundar as the second spinner after Ravindra Jadeja though the MCG track traditionally isn’t known to be of much assistance for a second specialist spinner.
Victories at the MCG in 2018-19 and 2020-21 contributes series triumphs, which would give India a lot of heart though it would need much more to complete a hat-trick of wins.
Australia have a far settled look and feel, having decided to hand debut to opener San Konstas and bringing in pacer Scott Boland for the injured Josh Hazlewood.
They would go for the kill but just like India need their batters to stay in the middle to post a big score. Fielding teenager Konstas looks like a gamble after a similar punt on Nathan McSweeney boomeranged, leading to criticism.
Teams (from):
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Tanush Kotian, Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal.
Australia (XI): Pat Cummins (captain), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marcus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland.
Match details
India vs Australia, fourth Test
Match begins in Melbourne at 5am IST
Live telecast on Star Sports Network and streaming on Disney+Hostar
India take on Australia in the Boxing Day Test at Mebourne with the five-match series currently level at 1-1 Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
