[VIDEO] Australia vs India 3rd Test highlights: Day 1 cricket scores, blog

Australia will look to drill home the advantage when they take on India in the third Test match in Melbourne from the Boxing Day. You ​can ​follow the live scores of this match from the the MCG starting ​10:30am AEDT.​

India were on the verge of causing a huge upset in the first Test in Adelaide. And then they committed hara-kiri in the final session of the game to allow Australia to go 1-0 up.

In the second Test, they were ahead after Day 1. Despite a collapse on the second day, India seemed to have done well to get into a position from where they could have taken a 100-run lead but the bowling caved in, in the face of an Australian lower-order assault and conceded almost 100.

Even then they could have batted the better part of a day and a half to set Australia a target of around 250 and make life difficult in the fourth innings, for the hosts. They collapsed for the fourth time in as many innings to make things easy for the Aussies.

Before that second innings in Brisbane, India looked to matching Australia in almost all departments.

Then, something strange happened.

A couple of their key players were hit during the practice sessions before the start of the fourth day’s play.

One of them, Shikhar Dhawan, was unbeaten overnight, and he refused to go out to bat because of that injury.

The other, Virat Kohli, in smashing form from the previous match, had to reluctantly come out to bat with less than 10 minutes available for him to get ready.

Mitchell Johnson had already been breathing fire after the verbal jousts he had been forced into by former Mumbai Indians teammate Rohit Sharma. He relished the presence of a new batsman at the crease and probably sensed the reluctance. And he got Kohli out.

Ajinkya Rahane followed a few overs later. So did Rohit. Johnson suddenly had three after having failed to pick up a wicket in the first.

Dhawan came out later to hit 81 but by then the horse had bolted for India. Despite the effort of the lower-order, India failed to take a substantial lead and Australia ran away with the game yet again.

It’s going to be interesting which Indian team will walk out on the morrow. The one which showed it could compete at various stages of the series before bowing out or that which was on display in the last five sessions in Brisbane.

Australia have been way more consistent as a bowling unit and the return of Ryan Harris in place of Mitchell Starc should make their attack more potent. Shane Watson showed how to throttle the aggressive Indian batsmen and Harris could only add to India’s difficulties. In turn, Johnson could become more difficult to face.

As far as the rest of the line-up is concerned, Australia have brought in debutant Joe Burns for the hamstrung Mitchell Marsh. Watson could retain his number three spot but the onus will now be on him to get some runs or losing his spot to Marsh – especially if Burns gets some runs this game.

India’s line-up will be known only at the toss but the buzz is that KL Rahul will be awarded a debut. Who he replaces is a matter of conjecture, with options ranging from Rohit Sharma, Dhawan and even Murali Vijay – who is said to have not come out to practice for a couple of days.

Rohit Sharma’s place in the side looks to be in jeopardy too, after having struggled to hit form at number six. Suresh Raina could act as a replacement but what will be curious to see is whether he has overcome his perennial woes with short-pitch bowling.

Dhoni does not look like wanting to change to a five-bowler strategy which means the only change that can be expected will be if Bhuvneshwar Kumar makes a miraculous recovery and replaces Varun Aaron.

You can follow the live score of the first day of this third Australia v India Test from ​10:30am AEDT on Friday and post your comments ​in the section ​below.