India’s Washington Sundar and Rishabh Pant celebrate the wicket of New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner during the first day of the second test cricket match between India and New Zealand, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, in Pune, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (PTI Photo)
India vs Australia 3rd test: Rohit Sharma-led India will take on Pat Cummins’ Australia in the third match at the Gabba in Brisbane of the ongoing five-match series in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India won the first test by 295 runs at Perth, Western Australia while Australia came back strongly to win the second day-night test in Adelaide by an equally emphatic 10 wickets.
With the series locked at 1-1, here are a few changes that both teams can make at Gabba.
Josh Hazlewood for Scott Boland
Australia captain Pat Cummins has made it clear that Josh Hazlewood will return to the playing XI and will replace Scott Boland. Hazlewood was cleared of injury on Friday and will join Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc for the third Test against India in Brisbane. Hazlewood missed the pink-ball Test due to side strain. Scott Boland, who replaced Hazlewood picked five wickets in the match and was instrumental in Australia’s win.
Akash Deep for Harshit Rana
The nets don’t always offer a definite clue, but based on the proceedings it did seem Akash Deep might play ahead of Harshit Rana. Akash Deep bowled far more than Harshit Rana and also batted a bit, with the assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate crouching at a silly-point position whenever the Bengal pacer faced the spinner. With Brisbane set to help the pacers, India might also go with a four-pronged pace attack.
Washington Sundar for Ravichandran Ashwin
All-rounder Washington Sundar, who was one of the heroes of India’s triumph at the Gabba in 2021, is likely to replace veteran spinner R Ashwin in India’s third Test. Washington played the Perth Test ahead of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The 25-year-old scored a crucial 29 in the second innings and also picked up two crucial wickets. Three years ago, Washington had made his debut at the same venue. The southpaw has smashed 62 and 22 in the Test and picked up four wickets with the ball.
Probable Playing XIs
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.
Australia predicted XI: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
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