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With the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test series currently levelled 1-1 after Australia registered a commanding 10-wicket win in the Adelaide Test last weekend, the action has now moved to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test. After a dominating win the opening Test of the five-match series down under, Team India will aim to bounce back and take a 2-1 lead.
For the unversed, the visitors won the toss and invited to bowl first. After their decision to put the Aussies to bat first, the Men in Blue called in for two changes in their Playing XI from the Adelaide Test. R Ashwin, who walked in place of Washington Sundar in the second Test, made his way back on the bench, Harshit Rana was also excluded from the XI despite an impressive outing in the first Test.
Why are R Ashwin and Harshit Rana not playing the Gabba Test?
After winning the toss, Rohit Sharma confirmed two changes into their side with Ravindra Jadeja coming in place of R Ashwin and youngster Akash Deep replacing Harshit Rana. “We're going to bowl first. Little bit overcast and little bit of grass, looks a bit soft as well, want to make best use of the conditions. Lot of cricket to be played, both teams have played good cricket in the last two games. Big game for us here, we'll do what is expected of us. We'll play good cricket, we understand we have to capture some moments, we didn't do that in the previous game which is why we lost,” Rohit said during the toss.
When asked about the changes in the XI from the previous Test, Rohit further added, “We've made two changes, Jadeja and Akash back in place of Ashwin and Harshit.” Moreover, Australia also announced a change in their lineup with Josh Hazlewood returning after nursing his injury in place of Scott Boland.
Australia vs India third Test Playing XI
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
