Mayank to Debut, Australia recalled Mitchell Marsh

Mayank will become the 295th player to play Tests for India.

Melbourne: India axed both openers on Tuesday while Australia recalled all-rounder Mitchell Marsh at the expense of struggling batsman Peter Handscomb for the high-stakes third Test which starts from Wednesday (December 26).

With the four-Test series tied 1-1, much is riding on the Boxing Day showdown at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where up to 90,000 fans are expected, and India can't afford another top order flop.

Murali Vijay and KL Rahul scored just 95 runs between them in eight innings across the opening two Tests in Adelaide and Perth, failing to play their part alongside the likes of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara.

They have paid the price with debutant Mayank Agarwal expected to open the batting with Hanuma Vihari, who is set to be bumped up the order.

Experienced No.6 Rohit Sharma was declared fit and resumes his place in the side after missing the Perth Test.

But ace spinner Ravichandran 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.

Skipper Kohli, who had some testy exchanges in Perth with Australian counterpart Tim Paine, insisted the defeat there was in the past and his team was starting with a new slate in Melbourne.

Kohli, who scored a battling century in Perth but was criticised for failing to acknowledge the crowd when he was controversially given out, also said he would not be looking for confrontations with Paine in Melbourne.

Australia made one change to their XI for the Boxing Day Test, bringing in all-rounder Mitchell Marsh for Peter Handscomb.

Marsh, who was initially left out for the first two Tests in Adelaide and Perth, was drafted back in given Handscomb's form across the two games where he returned scores of 34, 14, 7 and 13 across four innings.

Although Marsh makes his return to the side averaging 11 across 11 knocks since the 96 in South Africa in March, his ability to chip in with medium pace at the MCG will relieve Australia's bowling unit.

Teams

Australia: Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Tim Paine (capt & wk), Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc.

India: Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions
Boxing Day is set to see a sunny event, although subsequent days are likely to be a bit cloudier, with potential showers on day four and five. The MCG pitch has a green tinge to it, and is likely to lead towards a slow-scoring game. Rated "poor" last year, the pitch has been the topic of much conversation.

Stats and trivia

• Mitchell Starc needs four wickets to reach 200 in Tests matches.
• Virat Kohli has scored five Test hundreds in 2018, equalling his tally from 2017 as his best year. A century in Melbourne would put him alone in second place for the most in a year by an India batsman behind Sachin Tendulkar's seven in 2010
• India have two previous victories in Melbourne: in 1977, then won by 222 runs against a side ravaged by World Series Cricket and in 1981 when the margin was 59 runs as Australia were skittled for 83 chasing 143.

Match facts
26-30 December 2018
Start time: 10.30am local (23.30 GMT (-1))