Published: Dec 25, 2018, 07:45 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 25, 2018, 07:45 AM (IST)
India dumped openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul after a lean run of form and will be without injured spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the third Test against Australia in Melbourne from Wednesday.
Vijay and Rahul have scored just 95 runs between them in eight innings, with debutant Mayank Agarwal to open the batting alongside Hanuma Vihari, who has been elevated up the order.
Experienced middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma was declared fit and resumes his place in the side after missing the second Test in Perth.
But Ashwin, who also missed that game, has failed to recover from an abdominal strain, with left-arm finger-spinner Ravindra Jadeja brought in as part of a four-man attack.
The four-Test series is tied 1-1.
Australia have dropped Peter Handscomb and recalled allrounder Mitchell Marshfor the third Test against India starting in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Given concerns that the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch won’t offer as much to the bowlers as those two Tests, selectors opted for Marsh and his part-time seamers to relieve pressure on Australia’s pace spearheads.
India XI: Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
