Melbourne [Australia]: India has named the Playing XI for the Boxing Day Test against Australia, starting on Saturday, and they have made four changes to the team that played in the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval. Shubman Gill comes in for Prithvi Shaw, Ravindra Jadeja for Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant for Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammed Siraj for Mohammad Shami.
Team India XI: Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin and Mohd. Siraj. Opener Shaw had looked out of place as he was dismissed in similar fashion -- gap between bat and pad -- in both the innings and while Shubman Gill was included in his place, bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja comes in for regular skipper Kohli.
The India captain was granted paternity leave to be with wife Anushka Sharma for the birth of their first child. Rishabh Pant replaced Wriddhiman Saha as he failed to deliver with the bat in the first Test.
Another question that troubled the visitors was who will replace injured Shami. T Natarajan had impressed everyone with his bowling skills in the limited-over format but Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini were part of the Test squad and the management decided to pick Siraj.
After a humiliating loss in the pink-ball Test, it will be all about coming back all guns blazing for the Indian unit when they take on the hosts. If the humiliation of getting bundled out for 36 wasn't enough, India was handed a confidence-denting blow when pacer Shami was ruled out of the remaining series with a fractured arm.
After India had dominated the first two days of the opening Test, it took a once in a lifetime spell of pace bowling from the duo of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to turn the table in Australia's favour. However, it is worth noting that Australia has emerged victorious seven times in their last ten outings in a Boxing Day Test and they would surely want to make that 8 in 11. Overall, the team from Down Under has won 25 matches from 39 games and posed a major threat to opponents when it comes to playing in Melbourne.
Steve Smith, who had always dreamt of batting in the Boxing Day Test, has a great record in Australian cricket's biggest annual event. The right-handed batsman has smashed over 900 runs with three half-centuries. Smith relished batting in a Boxing Day Test and walking out to bat gives him "shivers down the spine".
