Australia has released their playing 11 for the upcoming test against India. This will be the 4th Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy and both the teams are 1-1 till now.
India won the first test match (Perth) by 295 runs whereas Aussies won the second test (Adelaide) by 10 wickets and the third test (Brisbane) remained a draw. Now the fourth test (boxing day test) will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne from December 26th – December 30th.
Young batter, Sam Konstas, 19, will mark his debut on the upcoming test. He will be the youngest debutant for Australia at the MCG. He replaced Nathan McSweeney and will be playing as a opener for the team. To his selection Aussie skipper Pat Cummins said,
“There’s a level of naivety that you just want to go out and play like you do when you’re a kid in the backyard. You just want to take the game on, have fun, and not overthink it. That’s the message to Sam. That’s definitely how I felt as an 18-year-old. I was just really excited, and once the game started, you go into game-mode and it’s just like any other game.”
Vice-captain Travis Head has been declared fit before the match and will be seen in the match. Earlier he got a minor quad strain in the 3rd Test while batting. But he went for a fitness test a day before and has been declared fit. Cummins said that Travis will do his batting and if he needs rest or feeling uncomfortable then he might be given rest during the fielding.
Boland again marked his presence for the MCG as Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the series due to the injury. Boland already played the 2nd test, where he bowled brilliantly and grabbed 5 wickets.
Australia playing 11:
Pat Cummins ©, Travis Head, Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.