The 4th and the Final Test of the Border – Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia is all set to kick off The Gabba in Brisbane on 15th January 2021 amidst all the uncertainty leading into the 4th Test with few of the Indian players being reluctant on traveling to Brisbane which is currently under a strict lockdown after having found traces of the UK variant of the Coronavirus.
India will walk into the 4th Test At Gabba with utmost pride after what they managed to achieve the other day in Sydney. Amidst all the racist slurs, the sledging, the banter, and injuries, yet India managed to bat 131 overs to secure a draw at the SCG. The drawn match was started by a bit of carnage by Rishabh Pant who raced his way to 97 in no time before getting dismissed by Nathan Lyon.
After which the World witnessed a rock-solid batting effort by Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin, one of which had a grade two hamstring tear while the other batted with a terrible back tweak, Yet both of them managed to bat for four hours to help India secure a draw.
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Jasprit Bumrah Highly Unlikely To Play In Brisbane
What then followed up for the Indian side was trouble, trouble, and more trouble ahead of the 4th Test At Brisbane. Hanuma Vihari was ruled out as a result of the hamstring injury he sustained during the 3rd Test, Ravindra Jadeja dislocated and fractured his thumb while batting in the first innings, Jasprit Bumrah is highly unlikely to participate in the 4th Test due to an abdominal strain. Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin are too nursing injuries whilst Mayank Agarwal too suffered a blow in the nets during a practice session ahead of the 4th Test.
With the number of injuries hovering around the Indian side, we’re still not sure if the Indian side will manage to field in a ‘Completely Fit XI’ for the Test starting on 15th January. In addition to all the already exiting troubles for the Indian side, upon arriving at the hotel in Brisbane it was revealed to the Indian players that they would need to live the ‘DIY Life’ which means no housekeeping and no swimming pool access which the Indian team wasn’t notified earlier about.
Now with Jasprit Bumrah, Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the Brisbane Test, India will be looking to make quite a few changes to their playing XI. Shardul Thakur is all set to replace Jasprit Bumrah while there’s a possibility that India plays Rishabh Pant as a pure batsman and replace Hanuma Vihari with Wriddhiman Saha or trust Rishabh Pant with the gloves and field in an extra batsman in the form of Mayank Agarwal or Prithvi Shaw in the middle order.
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Also, there is another possibility that India hands Washington Sundar a debut in place of Ravindra Jadeja if they decide to field 3 pace bowlers and 2 spinners, or else India will be handing T Natarajan a Test debut at the Gabba if the combination sticks to 4 pace bowlers and 1 spinner.
On the other hand, Australia have just one injury concern in the form of Will Pucovski which why Head coach Justin Langer announced that left-handed Marcus Harris would open the batting alongside David Warner. Other than this, Australia are likely to field the same team that featured at Sydney with a slight chance of Pat Cummins being rested for Michael Neser.
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Australia vs India 2020: 3rd Test at the Gabba, Brisbane. Start from 5:00 AM IST
Playing XI
India – Rohit Sharma (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha/Mayank Agarwal, R Ashwin, Washington Sunda/T Natarajan, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Siraj
Australia – David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (c & wk), Pat Cummins / Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Also Read: ‘I Didn’t See That Coming At All’, Brad Haddin Lauds Team India’s Fightback At SCG
Match Prediction – Who will win the match?
As they say ‘No one can beat Australia at the Gabba’ Australia will definitely be having the upper hand going into the Brisbane Test. When we talk about experience Australia’s bowling line up is a no match to India’s bowling attack that will feature at the Gabba on Friday with the most experienced pace bowler in the Indian Team would be Mohammed Siraj with 2 Tests while Navdeep Saini had debuted at the SCG in the 3rd Test whereas Shardul Thakur broke down after bowling 10 balls in his only Test which came 2 years back against the West Indies.
There’s a reason why visiting teams don’t like facing Australia at Brisbane and the reason being this over dominance of Australia at the particular venue, Australia have played 31 Tests since their last defeat in 1988 and won 24 of them which makes them a strong force to reckon with at the Gabba.
Despite India being without their star players in this series, the visiting side will put up a strong fight, an example of which was evident in the 3rd Test at Sydney. Though Australia will hold the upper hand, with the past history having a strong backing for the Aussies.