Melbourne, Dec 25: The squad for the Boxing Day test was announced, on Tuesday, by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja returning to the squad.
Rohit Sharma was declared fit for the third test after sustaining an injury in the practice sessions before the second test. The ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has failed to recover from the abdominal strain forcing the Indian team management to induce Jadeja for the role of a spinner.
India won the Adelaide test but having lost the Perth test by a hefty margin of 146 runs, the Indian team selection came under the scanner. More so, the openers have also faced the heat as they’ve failed badly despite getting a longer run.
However, the Indian team drafted Mayank Agarwal and Hardik Pandya into the squad for the rest of the series.
India's Playing XI for the 3rd Test: Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah