Third Test: Mayank Agarwal to Make Debut; Rahul, Vijay Dropped

India drop both openers along with Umesh Yadav for the Boxing Day test against Australia.

India has dropped both openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay for the Boxing Day Test and elected to give a debut cap to Mayank Agarwal.

(Photo: AP/Altered by The Quint)

• Openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay have both been dropped from the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test against Australia that starts on Wednesday.
  
• Mayank Agarwal, India’s highest-scoring domestic cricketer last season, will make his debut.
• Umesh Yadav is also out, replaced by spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
• Match starts 5am IST.

The series tied at 1-1 and a below par record at the MCG but India have decided to make some sweeping changes to their playing XI for the Boxing Day Test starting Wednesday in Melbourne.

Both openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay have been given the boot with India’s highest-scoring domestic cricketer from last season, Mayank Agarwal being given a debut game.

The third change is in the bowling department with Umesh Yadav being replaced by Ravindra Jadeja whose fitness has been the main talking point in the run-up to the match.

Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin was again ruled out, having not fully recovered from the abdominal strain that sidelined him in the second Perth test.

Rohit Sharma though has been declared fit after missing the last match and preferred over Hardik Pandya as he will give the cushion of an extra batsman.

Our aim is to put enough runs on the board to help our bowlers capitalize. Our batsmen need to step up collectively. I won’t point out anyone individually whether someone needs to do that or not, but as a batting unit, we have to definitely put up a better performance.

Virat Kohli, Captain - India

Time Up For KL & Vijay

Rahul’s exclusion looked imminent after he scored only 48 runs in four innings this series, including a highest of 44 in the second innings at Adelaide. In this year's overseas cycle alone, his average had dropped down to 20.94 in nine Tests with only one fifty-plus score.

Vijay had done no better, scoring 49 runs in four innings this series, including a highest of 20 in the second innings at Perth.

Overall in 2019, he only averages 18.80 in eight Tests, with one hundred against Afghanistan. His highest score this year is the 46 he notched up in the first innings against South Africa at Centurion. In this year's overseas cycle, his average drops down to 12.64 in seven Tests.

(GFX: ArnicaKala/TheQuint)

Last time the sides met in a Boxing Day fixture, a lifeless MCG pitch ensured there was no prospect of anything other than a draw. Kohli was optimistic enough work had been done on the pitch to ensure a result.

Seeing the pitch now, it has much more grass than it had last time. I hope that it’s a lively pitch. I hope that it does as much as it did in the first two games because as a side, you know you’re always in for a result that way.

Virat Kohli, Captain - India

(GFX: ArnicaKala/TheQuint)

Making Way For Rohit

Taking up the other new batsman’s spot in the XI will be Rohit Sharma who’s likely to bat at number six, with Hanuma Vihari expected to open with Mayank. While he bats at number three for Andhra, Vihari has previously opened for Hyderabad earlier in his first-class career.

Even so, this new strategy from the think tank again puts the spotlight on Rohit Sharma, who will be eager to make an impression after yet another batting order shuffle to accommodate him.

In the past, India have dropped Cheteshwar Pujara (Sydney, 2014), moved Ajinkya Rahane to number three (Colombo, 2015), and even skipper Virat Kohli has batted at number three (St. Lucia, 2016) to make way for Sharma in the line-up.

The batsman continues to underwhelm with his indifferent Test form, albeit he did score an attacking 37 runs at Adelaide out of India's first innings total of 250.

Jadeja Adds Spin Option

India's third change is pertaining to their bowling attack. After getting the balance awfully wrong in Perth, they have included a spinner along with Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has recovered sufficiently from his shoulder stiffness and takes Umesh Yadav's spot in the playing eleven.

Australia Make One Change

Australia, meanwhile, recalled all-rounder Mitch Marsh, dropping struggling batsman Peter Handscomb.

I’m sure Pete would be upset. I think he’s had conversations with the selectors that there’s a few things he needs to work on and Pete is open to that.

Tim Paine, Captain - Australia

Paine said Handscomb would come into consideration for the fourth test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, traditionally the most spin-friendly of the Australian pitches.

Going to Sydney, a place where it normally spins, I think people come back into the fold pretty quickly because he’s renowned as probably our best player of spin. I know he’ll be doing everything he can to get back into the side.

Tim Paine, Captain - Australia

After losing the first test in Adelaide, Australia fought back in Perth to level the series.

But Paine, who sparred verbally with counterpart Kohli in Perth, played down suggestions his side had all the momentum.

We don’t feel like we’re on top of them. We feel like we’re getting better every test. Certainly when you’ve got an inexperienced playing group and you get a big win like we did in Perth against the No. 1 team in the world, guys are going to grow in confidence a little bit and come to Melbourne feeling a bit better than we did when we went to Perth.

Tim Paine, Captain - Australia

Indian XI For Boxing Day Test

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

Australian XI For Boxing Day Test

Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.