IND vs AUS 3rd Test Match Preview: Ajinkya Rahane-led Team India will lock horns with Australia in the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). The match is all set to commence at 5 AM IST (January 7). Cricket fans will have to subscribe to the SonyLIV for enjoying the uninterrupted Live Streaming of the much-anticipated Sydney Test. Here is our IND vs AUS 3rd Test match preview, Dream11 team prediction, pitch report and conditions, playing 11 updates, and live streaming details as stated below.
Indian cricket team will be aiming to start afresh against Australia with the big guns, Rohit Sharma's presence adding a new dimension to what promises to be an enthralling third Test. The four-match Test series is being an internal part of the World Test Championship (WTC) and it is currently tied at 1-1 with two Tests to go.
Earlier, the BCCI on Wednesday has announced its playing XI for the third Test vs Australia in Sydney. One of the most stylish and fluent Indian batsman Rohit Sharma is back in the side and he replaced opener Mayank Agarwal while Navdeep Saini set to make his Test debut for Team India, kick start in Sydney tomorrow.
Ahead of the Sydney Test, stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane said ''Quarantine life is a challenge. We know the life outside in Australia is normal. We know how to handle it. As a team, we want to do well and play some good cricket.''
Their opponents, Australia, on the other hand, will want to regain lost ground and solve their batting woes, which was crucial in their defeat in the second Test. David Warner will be making a comeback to the side after being ruled out of the first two tests due to a groin injury.
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Sydney's wicket is likely to be good for batting in the first two days while the seamers will get some assistance from the pitch on Day 1. Traditionally, the SCG pitch supports spinners on the 4th and 5th day of the match. There is a forecast of rainfall in the first two days of IND vs AUS 3rd Test. However, the curator of SCG is quite hopeful that there would be a full match.
“I think we will have a bit of pace in it. We always start off with a little bit of pace in it. It naturally then turns into the traditional SCG wicket”, curator Lewis said.
Wicket-keeper - Mathew Wade (Vice-captain)
Batsmen - Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner
All-rounders - Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin
Bowlers - Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Jaspreet Bumrah
India announce Playing XI - Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini
Australia Playing XI - Tim Paine (C/WK), Steve Smith, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Wade, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood
Australia: David Warner, Matthew Wade, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Tim Paine(w/c), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Marcus Harris, Moises Henriques, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Mitchell Swepson
India: Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, T Natarajan, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Prithvi Shaw
The Sony Sports Network (SSN) will live telecast India vs Australia 3rd Test match on three channels while SonyLIV will live stream the third Test. Cricket fans will watch the match on Sony SIX, Sony TEN 1 in English while Sony TEN 3 will provide commentary in Hindi.