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Monday, December 24, 2018

2018-19 India Tour of Australia - Third Test @ MCG Dec 26-30,2018 - India's Mayank Agarwal to Make Debut in Melbourne Test as Rahul, Vijay Dropped

Mayank Agarwal is set to be handed his Test debut as the BCCI announced its team for the third Test against Australia in Melbourne on boxing day.

India have axed both openers (KL Rahul and Murali Vijay) while Australia recalled all-rounder Mitchell Marsh at the expense of struggling batsman Peter Handscomb for the high-stakes third Test.

With the four-Test series tied 1-1, much is riding on the Boxing Day showdown at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where up to 90,000 fans are expected, and India can't afford another top order flop.

Rahul and Vijay have been ineffective in the first two Tests and Kumble felt that it is time for a change at the top of the order. In four innings, Vijay had scores of (11 & 18) and (0 & 20) while Rahul has scored (2 & 44) and (2 & 0).

Murali Vijay and KL Rahul scored just 95 runs between them in eight innings across the opening two Tests in Adelaide and Perth, failing to play their part alongside the likes of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara.

They have paid the price with debutant Mayank Agarwal expected to open the batting with Hanuma Vihari, who is set to be bumped up the order. 

Experienced No.6 Rohit Sharma was declared fit and resumes his place in the side after missing the 2nd Test @ Perth 

Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who wasn't considered for selection for the second Test due to being "only 70-80% fit", will be available for the third match of the series against Australia in Melbourne, it was announced on Sunday (December 23).

India team - Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

Australia team - Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Tim Paine (capt), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

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