The fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be played in Melbourne from today. The 5-match series is tied at 1-1. India won the first match by 295 runs and Australia won the second match by 10 wickets. While the third match was a draw.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma may open alongside Yashaswi Jaiswal in the Melbourne Test. While KL Rahul has entered the field at number-3. Out-of-form Shubman Gill is not certain to play. Not only this, the Indian team can go with 2 spinners in the Boxing Day Test. The first Ravindra Jadeja and the second Washington could be beautiful.
Match details
Date- 26th December
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Stadium
Time- Toss- 4:30 AM, Match Start- 5:00 AM
Here Boland took 6 wickets in the debut Test Scott Boland made his Test debut against England at his home ground in Melbourne. He took 6 wickets for 7 runs in that match and snatched the game win from England. Boland played an important role in Australia's win against India in the second Test (pink ball) of the series by taking 6 wickets. He replaced Josh Hazlewood and could prove to be even more dangerous than Hazlewood at the MCG. Boland will also get support from Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc on Melbourne's fast pitch.
Australia ahead in overall record
Rohit landed at number-6 in the last 2 matches Rohit Sharma was unable to play the first Test match due to the birth of his second child. He was slated to open as an opener in the second Test, but KL Rahul was instrumental in India's victory with a brilliant innings of 77 runs in Perth.
In such a situation, the captain had to change his batting order. However, he could score only 19 runs in three innings. On the other hand, Rahul strengthened his claim in the top order by scoring 84 runs in the first innings of the third Test match.
Bumrah is the highest wicket-taker of the series Team India vice captain Jasprit Bumrah has taken 21 wickets in this series. He is the highest wicket-taker in the series. While KL Rahul is the highest run scorer of the team. After him Virat Kohli has scored 126 runs.
Head series top scorer Travis Head, who scored two centuries in the last two matches for Australia, is the top scorer of the series. In bowling, Mitchell Starc has taken the highest 14 wickets for the team.
Why is the match played on 26th December called Boxing Day Test? The term 'Boxing-Day Test' in cricket originated from Australia's domestic match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1892. The Test played on December 26 in Australia and Africa is called the Boxing Day Test. In such a situation, it would seem that Boxing Day would have something to do with boxing, but it does not.
In fact, the day after Christmas (December 25) is called Boxing Day in many countries. The gift boxes received during the festival on 25th December are opened the next day on 26th December. That is why this day is called Boxing Day. Australia, New Zealand and African countries have more tradition of celebrating it. Different places in the world have different theories.
Theory-1: What is a Christmas Box? On the day after Christmas, people give each other Christmas boxes. Boxing Day is the first day of the week after the Christmas holiday. Earlier on this day many people would go to work and their boss would give them a Christmas box. It is believed that that is why this day was named as Boxing Day.
Theory-2: On Christmas the box is kept in the church There is another theory related to Boxing Day. It is said that a box is kept in the church during Christmas. In these boxes people keep gifts for the poor and needy. On the day after Christmas, those boxes are opened and the donated goods are distributed among the poor and needy.
Pitch report Fast bowlers usually get help in Melbourne. Pitch curator Matt Page said the Melbourne pitch will be similar to the last few years. A similar encounter will be seen between the ball and the bat. Will leave approximately 6mm of grass on the pitch.
Roll of the toss In Melbourne, the team that wins the toss can bat first. Australia have played 6 Tests here since 2018, winning 4 and losing 2. The team to bat first also won 3 times and the team to bowl first also won 3 times. So far 116 matches have been played here, in which the team batting first has won 57 matches. The team bowling first has won only 42 matches.
Weather conditions The weather will be very hot on the first day of the Melbourne Test. According to weather website AccuWeather, there is no chance of rain in Melbourne on December 26. On this day, the temperature here will be 14 to 37 degrees Celsius.
Both Teams India's Probable Playing XI for Melbourne Test: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashshwi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep.
Australia's playing-11: Pat Cummins (captain), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuchen, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
