Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at Adelaide Oval, which will be a pink-ball, day and night affair.
The Adelaide Test sees India entering with both a mental and physical edge, following a dominant performance in the first Test led by Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling and captaincy. However, the visitors will also aim to exorcise the memories of the infamous 2020 Adelaide pink-ball Test, where they were dismissed for their lowest Test score of 36 runs. On that occasion, Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) dismantled the Indian batting line-up, giving Australia a straightforward target of 90 runs to chase.
India are currently 1-0 up in the BGT series following their record-shattering 295-run victory in Perth.
India has made three changes to their side, Rohit and Shubman Gill are back in the team, with latter coming after a thumb injury that caused him to miss the first Test. Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will also be playing the match, having taken 18 wickets in four pink-ball matches, averaging a brilliant 13.83. The players sitting out are: Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar.
Speaking during the toss, Rohit said that the pitch looks good and dry with enough grass covering.
“There will be something in it for everyone. I have been here for two weeks now. Ready to go now. The mood is good, pretty vibrant. What the boys did in Perth was superb. It is a long series, we will try and do most things right. The fast bowlers are happy with the break. We want to carry from where we left. We have made 3 changes. I am back, Gill is back. Ashwin is back. I am batting in the middle order,” he said.
For Australia, pacer Josh Hazlewood misses out due to a strain and Scott Boland comes in.
Skipper Pat Cummins said during the toss, “It is always good to have a fresh start. Pink ball can be a little bit different. It is been a really good preparation. It is pretty muggy today. Just one change. Josh Hazlewood misses out, Scott Boland comes in.”
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
