After winning the opening Test with flying colors by 295 runs, Team India faced a major setback and lost the second match by 10 wickets in Adelaide. As the five-match series is currently leveled 1-1, Rohit Sharma will look to bounce back in the third Test which will be played in Brisbane from Saturday. The pink-ball Test in Adelaide marked the return of skipper Rohit, who missed the first match due to the birth of his second child. However, the Indian skipper failed to leave a mark as he scored only three and six runs.
Rohit’s elegance and Virat Kohli’s class will face the ultimate ‘Test’ when India take on an Australian team eager to set the record straight on a spicy Gabba track.
In bowling, India has Jasprit Bumrah, who has made every other bowler in the series look pedestrian in his comparison.
He definitely needs more support at the other end but more than that, he needs runs from the likes of Rohit and Kohli as a psychological cushion while breezing in to unleash his thunderbolts.
India’s biggest issue has been terrible first innings batting during the past one year in both home and away fixtures with six totals of 150 or less during the period.
And Rohit and Kohli’s first innings average in the 2024-25 season reads a rather poor 6.88 and 10 respectively.
Kohli has managed to get rid of some pressure with a hundred on the eased-up Perth track. But for Rohit, a captain’s knock is needed not just to boost his confidence but also help him assert as a leader who shows the way.
Senior off-spinner R Ashwin was chosen over Washington Sundar in the second Test. However, the visitors are likely to rope in Sundar for the Gabba Test.
As far as pace bowling is concerned, India are likely to play Akash Deep after Harshit Rana’s mediocre outing in Adelaide.
India’s Predicted XI: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
(With PTI Inputs)
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