- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Australia will look to put the drawn game in Melbourne behind them as they take on the Virat Kohli-led India in what could be an emotional final Test at Sydney. You can follow the live scores of the first day of the fourth Test from the SCG starting at 10:00am (AEDT).
It’s the coming back of the Australian team to the venue where Phil Hughes passed away. It will bring back memories from that fateful days to most of the players, especially those who were a part of that game when it happened.
LIVE SCORES OF DAY FIVE BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND INDA
Australian captain Steven Smith made a mention of how Australia wanted to ensure the series was won without any mishaps at Melbourne because of the highly unusual nature of the contest in Sydney. Hence, the late declaration in the third Test at the expense of missing out on a chance to win the series 4-0.
What Smith might not have also bargained for is the injury to Mitchell Johnson.
Johnson did his hamstring after bowling all those longer-than-usual spells in Melbourne and that now means Mitchell Starc will take his place. It will be the only change to the Australian line-up, which also implies that Ashton Agar can fly back to play for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League.
Starc has been a bit up and down in recent times but will benefit from the excellent holding job that Ryan Harris does at the other end. It will mean that unlike when he is partnering Johnson, he can actually not worry about the run-concession at the other end and that could work wonders for him.
Shane Watson has been woefully short of runs and it’s only been because of fitness issues to some of his teammates that’s allowing him to hold on to the spot in the XI. Another failure here could see him lose his spot despite his ability to chip in with some overs in the middle.
The other batsman under a bit of a pressure will be Joe Burns, who did not tickle the scorers in either innings of the previous game. The good news is that he has now been offered another opportunity, which he will like to take.
India haven’t revealed their playing XI but there could be a few changes to their side.
MS Dhoni’s untimely retirement has left them with no option but to bring Wriddhiman Saha into the XI. That’s the most obvious change but the poor form of Shikhar Dhawan, the rashness of KL Rahul and a probably exhausted fast bowling department could make the management tweak things around there too.
If Dhawan is dropped that Rahul could well be pushed up to open the innings given he has done that at the domestic level too. He will look to bat a tad more sensibly than he did in Melbourne, and of that there can be no doubt.
However, if Rahul does not make the cut then there is every chance Dhawan will retain his place because there are no other frontline openers in the Indian squad. Of course, that’s assuming that Cheteshwar Pujara or Saha aren’t sent up to open the innings.
Suresh Raina is waiting in the wings in case either of Dhawan or Rahul do get dropped. Raina could also provide an extra spin bowling option on what could be a slow bowling friendly track at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
With Varun Aaron back in Australia after attending to a bereavement in his family, it will be interesting to see if the management will look to bring him back in the side in place of Mohammad Shami.
India have shown they are looking at fighting fire with fire and hence this change does look within the realms of possibility.
The track in Sydney is a result-oriented one with the last drawn game played out here in 2004 in a game between Australia and India.
You can follow the live score of the first day of this fourth Australia v India Test from 10:00am local time on Tuesday and post your comments in the section below.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.