Who Will Open for India In the 4th BGT Test: Australia have received a major boost as Travis Head has been declared fit for the 4th BGT Test against India, starting on December 26 at the MCG.
Australia have confirmed their playing XI for the Boxing Day Test, and Head has been included. Sam Konstas is set to make his Test debut, replacing Nathan McSweeney, who scored 72 runs in three Tests as an opener, while Scott Boland, the cult hero at the MCG with the best bowling figures of 6/7 at this venue in the 2021/22 Ashes, replaces the injured Josh Hazlewood.
Head was under the cloud of a quad injury since the last day of the Brisbane Test, where he felt discomfort and hobbled between the wickets. Head also didn’t take the field during India’s brief second innings. He passed the fitness test on Tuesday and will take part in the MCG Test. Head is the leading run-scorer of the series with over 400 runs, including two centuries and one score of 89, while no other batsman has even 300 runs.
“Trav’s good to go; he’ll play. He just ticked off some final things today and yesterday. But no worries about injury with Trav. He’ll go into the game fully fit,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said.
“I don’t think you’ll see too much management of him throughout the game. He just kind of plays as is. Maybe around fielding, if he’s a bit uncomfortable, we will (manage him), but he’s fully fit.”
Australia playing XI for 4th Test vs India
Australia playing XI for 4th Test vs India: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
Who Will Open for India In the 4th BGT Test?
Meanwhile, the Times of India has reported that the out-of-form Rohit Sharma is “highly likely” to return to his opening position, and KL Rahul will be pushed to 3, and Shubman Gill into Rohit’s middle-order role.
After Rahul’s impressive knocks of 26 & 77 in Perth, where Rohit missed the Test, Sharma batted in the next two Tests in the middle order but managed only 19 runs.
In the pre-match press conference, Rohit refrained from confirming his batting position.
“Let’s not worry about who bats where. Something that we need to figure out and not something I would be discussing here,” Rohit Sharma said.
There are reports suggesting India are set to include Washington Sundar in the side for Nitish Kumar Reddy. Reddy has been impressive with the bat, but he has leaked runs with the ball. As India look for more control with the bat, they are expected to play Sundar, which would mean India will have two spinners—Sundar and Jadeja—in their line-up for the MCG Test.
India Predicted playing XI for 4th Test vs Australia:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
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