The last Test of the series begins in Sydney today, on the same ground on which Philip Hughes so sadly lost his life, succumbing to injuries received after being hit by a quick rising bouncer bowled by fast bowler Sean Abbott. Since this is the first Test match to be played at the SCG after that incident, it should begin on a somber note, with Phillip Hughes in the thoughts of every player – Indian and Australian – out there.
Back to cricket. India have a brand new team led by a very young captain, Virat Kohli. The inexperience in the Indian set up is simply striking, with Virat Kohli being the most capped player after having played only 30 odd Tests in his young career.
Australia have already won the Border-Gavaskar trophy, and would love to win the series 3-0, and take all the bragging rights by completely dominating the Indians. Much has been talked about the India- Australia rivalry, which is fast emerging as the biggest rivalry in cricket, even surpassing the one between India and Pakistan – because India and Pakistan hardly ever play cricket with each other anymore, or the one between Australia and England – as cricket seems to be losing popularity very fast in England.
So, the India-Australia clash is the most important one on the cricket calendar, and it is clear that the players from the two teams don’t get along well with each other. Indeed, the Australians have a special contempt for Virat Kohli, India’s new #1 man, who they see as a “spoilt brat”. Virat, of course, is not known to pull his punches in a verbal confrontation either. Which is why we fully expect tempers to flare in this Sydney Test, as pride and reputation are on the line.
Match conditions
The SCG has always been a friendly track for spinners, and we expect the same in this match as well. The temperatures are expected to be moderate with minimal chances of rain.
Team news
Australia will be without Mitchell Johnson, who is out because of a hamstring soreness and will be replaced by Mitchell Starc. This is the only expected change for them.
Australia: 1 Chris Rogers, 2 David Warner, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Shaun Marsh, 6 Joe Burns, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Ryan Harris, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon
For India, we expect Suresh Raina to get a match, rather than young KL Rahul who had a nightmare of a debut in the last match. Or it’s also likely that Rahul will be asked to open and Raina may come in for the the misfiring Shikhar Dhawan, who really hasn’t done much after a dream start to his Test career 3 years ago. Wriddhiman Saha is the new wicketkeeper, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar may be recalled after a prolonged spell out due to injury.
India: 1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Suresh Raina/KL Rahul, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Ishant Sharma / Mohammad Shami
Watch the 4th test between India and Australia live on Star Sport from January 6 to 10, at 5:30 AM.
