With the series level at 1-1, India and Australia move to Ranchi for the third Test in what is turning out to be an intense Test series.
There was some bad blood between the two sides in the second Test in Bengaluru and although both teams have said that they have moved on, don’t be surprised if tempers flare again.
Australia are still just one win away from retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and will want to put the disappointment of the Bengaluru Test behind them.
On the other hand, after suffering a rare loss at home in the first Test, India showed some tremendous character to win the second match despite conceding a lead in the first innings. Virat Kohli will be hoping for more of the same, come Ranchi.
DATE, TIME, VENUE INFO
Date: 16 March – 20 March 2017
Time: 09:30 local time (IST), 04:00 GMT, 08:00 GST
Venue: JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
WHERE TO WATCH, LIVE STREAMING INFO
TV: UAE – OSN Sports Cricket HD, India – Star Sports 1, HD 1 [English], Star Sports 3, HD 3 [Hindi]
Online streaming: hotstar.com, Hotstar app [in India only]
LIVE blog: Sport360 blog
TEAM NEWS, SQUAD, PREDICTED XI
INDIA SQUAD: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Abhinav Mukund, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav.
The Indian squad is, more or less, the same as the one that was named for the first two Tests, with the only difference being the exclusion of all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
In Bengaluru, the hosts went in with just four specialist bowlers and that might change in Ranchi. With the pitch likely to favour the spinners, the Indian think-tank will be tempted to play Jayant Yadav or Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner.
Opener Murali Vijay is likely to come back into the team in place of Abhinav Mukund.
PREDICTED INDIA XI: Vijay, Rahul, Pujara, Kohli (c), Rahane, Saha (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Jayant, Umesh, Ishant.
AUSTRALIA SQUAD: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O’Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins.
Australia were dealt with two injury blows as fast bowler Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh were ruled out of the series.
With Marsh out, it’ll be interesting to see what combination the visitors favour. Will they go for an all-round option in Glenn Maxwell or Marcus Stoinis, or will they go for a specialist batsman in Usman Khawaja?
In the pace department, either Jackson Bird or Pat Cummins will replace Starc.
PREDICTED AUSTRALIA XI: Warner, Renshaw, Smith (c), S Marsh, Handscomb, Maxwell, Wade (wk), O’Keefe, Lyon, Hazlewood, Bird.
FORM
(Last five Test matches – with latest match first)
INDIA: W L W W W
AUSTRALIA: L W W W W
MATCH PREDICTION
India to win.