India will bat against Australia in the fourth Test match in Melbourne and will look to level the series 1-1 in the Boxing Day Test
So it is official! Rohit Sharma dropped from the fifth and final Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 with Jasprit Bumrah leading the side out against Australia on Friday, January 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. (Match Blog | Full Coverage)
Bumrah won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
Surprisingly, Bumrah stated that Rohit has decided to 'rest' when asked at the toss by Ravi Shastri.
He said, "We are looking to bat first. We have played some good cricket. The last match was exciting. The grass doesn't look spicy. We always have learnt to digest defeats. We will look forward to this. Our skipper has opted to rest. It shows the unity we have. We have two changes. Rohit has opted out and Prasidh comes in for the injured Akashdeep."
Cummins said that he would have batted as well at the SCG. He said, "We were looking to bat as well. But it is overcast and hopefully we will swing the ball early. Sell out in the first few days. Just kept replaying in our heads the last session. Feels like every summer gets bigger and bigger here in Australia. This week is always special. Just one change. Beau Webster is debuting in place of Mitchell Marsh."
Australia are 2-1 ahead in the five-match series.