The second half of the Boxing Day Test match between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is expected to be thrilling with the Border Gavaskar Trophy underway. India got a massive 295-run win in the Perth Test, but Pat Cummins’s Australia bounced back with a 10-wicket win in the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval. The five-match Test series is currently tied at 1–1. Melbourne can decide India’s fate in the Test series. The Boxing Day Test could be ‘make or break’ for India in the ongoing five-match Test series.
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The pressure is on Rohit Sharma, who has not won his last five Tests but lost four of them. Since the Test series against Bangladesh, Rohit has faced troubles as he has not performed well with the bat. The Indian captain was the last player to come out for practice on Christmas Eve and there are speculations that he may open the innings in place of KL Rahul who has performed well so far. If this happens then Rahul will again have to bat at number three. In such a situation, either Shubman Gill will have to drop to the middle order or he will have to vacate the place for Dhruv Jurel.
Rohit has failed in the middle order and has only 19 runs to his name in three innings so far. Now if he is fielded as an opening batsman, it will be interesting to see what the batting order combination of the Indian team will be. On the other hand, Australia’s team is in form, although they could not win the third Test at Gabba in Brisbane. India enjoy playing at the MCG, especially in Test cricket. India have won 10 Tests on Australian soil, four of which have come at the iconic venue of Melbourne. In 1977, under the captaincy of Bishan Singh Bedi, India won by 222 runs, followed by Sunil Gavaskar and Co. in 1981 when they won by 59 runs. In fact, India had shown their dominance by winning back-to-back Tests in Melbourne.
Both captains believe that the results of the series so far show a tough competition between the two teams but things can change quickly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This has been India’s favorite ground in Australia where it has not lost a Test match since 2014. India has won its last test match here. But this time, with three young batsmen (Yashaswi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Shubhman Gill), a confident opener (KL Rahul) and some aging veterans (Virat Kohli and Rohit), this team is not looking very confident. The Australian team no longer looks like a strong contender like in the past, but despite this, if India has to continue its winning campaign at the MCG, then its batsmen will have to give their best performance.
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Kohli will have to awaken the champion within him and the star batsman will have to maintain his composure when Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc test him by bowling outside the off stump. Despite the absence of Josh Hazlewood, Australia’s attack does not look weak as local player Scott Boland can trouble the Indian batsmen with his accurate length and bouncy balls. Jaiswal, Gill and Pant will have to live up to their expectations and come on the field without any pressure as the captain also wants. As far as Australia is concerned, all eyes will be on how 19-year-old opening batsman Sam Constas, who is ready to make his Test debut, faces fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. He is well aware that Bumrah has left his predecessor Nathan McSweeney’s career hanging in the balance.
