India vs Australia 3rd Test preview: India will have an eye on the spot in the World Test Championship final when they take on Australia in the third Test at Indore which starts on 1 March. Having already won the first two matches and retained the Border-Gavaksar Trophy, it’s also an opportunity for India to capture the four-Test series. Winning the series with the Ahmedabad match to go, India would be able to focus on preparing for the WTC final in the fourth Test.
Both the matches so far in the series, in Nagpur and Indore, finished inside three days each with Indian spinners ruling the proceedings. It’s to be seen if Indore presents a similar track that assists spinners. Yet, despite the nature of the pitch, India may still be forced to make a change given the poor form of KL Rahul. The opener was removed as vice captain but was retained in the squad for Indore and Ahmedabad Tests. He has only scored 38 runs in three innings so far in the Test series and could make way for Shubman Gill who has been in great form in ODIs and T20Is since the start of the year.
IND vs AUS: Live streaming details
India captain Rohit Sharma, however, was in no mood to give away his playing XI for the Indore Test.
“I spoke about it after the last game as well. Players who are going through a tough time, given their potential they will be given enough time to prove themselves,” Rohit said in a media interaction ahead of the match. “Being vice captain or otherwise doesn’t tell you anything. At that point in time he was the vice captain. His removal as vice captain doesn’t indicate anything.”
“As far as 11 is concerned, I would like to do it at the toss. I prefer it that way considering last minute injuries are a possibility.”
Apart from Rahul, India are not expected to make any changes to their side.
Australia, on the other hand, will be making a few changes. Skipper Pat Cummins has gone back home due to his mother’s illness and opener David Warner is out injured. Mitchell Starc is expected to play his first match of the series, while Travis Head is expected to open in place of Warner.
IND vs AUS: Kasprowicz wants Australia to play three pacers in Indore
The sweep shot led to the downfall of multiple Aussie batters in Delhi, but stand-in skipper Smith backed his teammates to continue playing the shot.
“Delhi was probably a difficult place to play the sweep with the variable bounce, more than anything else. A couple of us (including Smith) went away from our plans. That was disappointing.
“For a few players, the sweep is a very productive shot. They have got to stick to it a 100 percent. If they are going to play it, they’ve to commit to it a 100 percent,” he said.
Smith also revealed his plan to put Indian spinners under pressure.
“For us, it’s about sticking to our plans and methods for long periods of time. In the second innings in Delhi, a lot of us went away from our plans and got undone by them.
“We can hopefully apply pressure on the spinners and post good totals on the board. That’s key for us. Hopefully, we can put that into practice in the middle and execute under pressure,” said Smith.
India will seal a WTC final spot with a win in Indore.
Squad:
Australia: Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (captain), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
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