Australia will lock horns against India in the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar series at the Gabba, Brisbane from Saturday. With the five-match Test series tied 1-1, it will be interesting to note who would take the advantage in Brisbane.
The first two matches have been one-sided and both teams will look to be at their best in the third game. We look at the current form, head-to-head, players to look out for, and squads of both teams in our match preview.
Current form of India: L W L L L
India could not deliver with the bat in their previous match and it led to their downfall. Furthermore, barring Jasprit Bumrah, all the Indian bowlers lacked penetration. The visitors will want their experienced batters like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to step up.
Current form of Australia: W L W W L
Australia made a resounding comeback at Adelaide after losing the opening Test at Perth. Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, and Pat Cummins were the stars for the team in the pink-ball game. Moreover, Marnus Labuschagne scoring 64 runs was a positive sign for the hosts.
Head to Head: Matches: 109, Won by Australia: 46, Won by India: 33, Draw: 29.
Players to watch out for: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Rishabh Pant will hold the key for India.
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Travis Head, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne will be the crucial players for the hosts.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
