India will be looking to get back to winning ways when they take on Australia in the third Test of the ongoing five-match series. The match is scheduled to be played on Saturday (December 14) at the Gabba.
The visitors started the series on a brilliant note by winning the first Test in Perth by 295 runs. However, they failed to maintain the same form in the second Test as Australia thrashed them by 10 wickets to draw level.
With both the teams now looking to win the upcoming Test to take the lead in the series, we are taking a look at India Playing 11 for the third Test.
India Playing 11 vs Australia- 3rd Test, India tour of Australia 2024-25:
Openers – KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal
While KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal did not have the best of outings with the bat in the second Test, The visitors are unlikely to change the opening combination in the India Playing 11.
There have been murmurs of demoting Rahul and letting Rohit Sharma open the innings again but it looks highly unlikely, especially after the visiting skipper’s poor show in the second Test.
While Jaiswal was out for a duck in the first innings, Rahul scored 37 runs. In the second innings, Jaiswal scored 24 while Rahul scored 7.
Middle-order batsmen and allrounders: Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Reddy
Shubman Gill missed the first Test due to an injury and failed to hit the ground running on his return to the Test side. The youngster got the starts in both innings but could not capitalize on them. He scored 31 and 28 runs in the match.
Virat Kohli failed to capitalize on the century that he scored in the first Test. The former skipper failed to get going in both innings, registering scores of 7 and 11.
Captain Rohit Sharma also failed to lead his team from the front. The spotlight was firmly on him but he could not live up to the expectations. Rohit scored 3 runs in the first innings before scoring 6 in the second.
Rishabh Pant did not impress with the bat either. Arguably the best Test wicketkeeper-batsman in the world, Pant was out for 21 in the first innings and 28 in the second innings.
Nitish Reddy was one of the very few positives in an otherwise disappointing match for the visitors.
The young allrounder once again impressed with his display under the pressure. In the first innings, he scored 42 runs before scoring 42 once again in the second innings. His cameo helped India avoid an innings defeat. He picked up a wicket as well.
Bowlers: Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana
The visitors are likely to make one change to the bowling lineup in the India Playing 11. Ravichandran Ashwin could make way for Washington Sundar for the third IND vs AUS Test. Sundar played in the first Test before being dropped for the second.
Ashwin bowled 18 overs in the Adelaide Test and picked up 1 wicket. With conditions in Brisbane highly unlikely to assist the spinners, the visitors could recall Sundar who also has a reputation of being a better lower-order batsman.
The pace lineup is set to remain the same with Jasprit Bumrah leading the attack in the company of Harshit Rana and Mohammed Siraj.
Meanwhile, reports are suggesting that Bumrah might miss the Test due to an injury. If that happens, he is likely to be replaced by Akash Deep in the India Playing 11 for the third IND vs AUS Test.
India squad:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep