The Boxing-Day Test, a sell-out MCG and almost 100000 people, Australia vs India, can’t get better than this, can it? With series tied at 1-1 after three Test matches, the penultimate Test of the series promises to be a gripping one between these two cricketing powerhouses.
Both India and Australia will look to flex their muscle and show their supremacy to take advantage in the series. We look at the current form, head-to-head, players to look out for, and squads of both teams in our match preview.
Current form of India: D L W L L
India would consider themselves lucky as rain came to their rescue in the third Test. The visitors’ batting line-up has looked at sea and the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will need to deliver more.
Current form of Australia: D W L W W
Australia were the more dominant side at Brisbane and the home team will look to tee off from where they left at the Gabba. Travis Head has been declared fit, which is a huge positive for the home team. The home team will look to continue their good show at the MCG.
Head to Head: Matches: 110, Won by Australia: 46, Won by India: 33, Draw: 30.
Players to watch out for: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Rishabh Pant will hold the key for India.
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Travis Head, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne will be the crucial players for the hosts.
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Tanush Kotian, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana.
Australia Squad: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Beau Webster, Sean Abbott, Josh Inglis, Jhye Richardson
