India Playing 11 | Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj to debut; Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja get nod for Melbourne Test

Shubman Gill to make Test debut against Australia at Melbourne

Melbourne, December 25: India rung in four changes to their playing 11 for the second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from Saturday (December 26).

India are trying to level the series after suffering an eight-wicket defeat in the Day-Night Test at Adelaide. Ajinkya Rahane will lead the side in the absence of Virat Kohli, who is on paternity leave.

Kohli's absence has forced a mandatory change and India has opted to bring in all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the Boxing Day Test, as the left-arm spinner has recovered from the concussion and hamstring injury that he suffered during the second T20I against Australia.

India also have handed debut to Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj, again forced by circumstances. Prithvi Shaw looked out of sorts in the Adelaide Test against Australia pacers. In the first innings, Mitchell Starc castled him, while Pat Cummins rocked his woodwork in the second innings.

The mode dismissals were similar too, as the Aussie pacers exploited Shaw's weakness against the incoming balls. It was a given that India will bench Shaw in the second Test after that shoddy effort at Adelaide. Gill looked solid and composed in the practice game at the Sydney Cricket Ground earlier this month and there have been calls to give him the debut ahead of the Test series.

Rishabh Pant, who hammered a hundred in the second day-night practice game at Sydney, replaced Wriddhiman Saha in the 11.

Similarly, Siraj's inclusion made mandatory once Mohammed Shami was ruled out of the remaining three Tests as he suffered a forearm injury while trying to fend off a bouncer from Pat Cummins in the Adelaide Test.

Shami was retired hurt as India ended their second innings at Adelaide at 36 for 9, their lowest Test score ever, beating the 42 all out against England in 1974.

India playing XI: Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.